Sample records for united states forests

Fragmentation is a continuing threat to the sustainability of forests in the Eastern UnitedStates, where land use changes supporting a growing human population are the primary driver of forest fragmentation (Stein and others 2009). While once mostly forested, approximately 40 percent of the original forest area has been converted to other land uses, and most of the...

US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture — Through application of a nearest-neighbor imputation approach, mapped estimates of forest carbon density were developed for the contiguous UnitedStates using the...

Forest fragmentation threatens the sustainability of forest interior environments, thereby endangering subordinate ecological attributes and functions. We analyzed the spatial patterns of forest disturbance and recovery for the conterminous UnitedStates from 2001 to 2006 to det...

Forest resource statistics from the 2000 Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment were updated to provide current information on the Nation's forests. Resource tables present estimates of forest area, volume, mortality, growth, removals, and timber products output in various ways, such as by ownership, region, or State. Current resource data and trends are analyzed...

Forest resource statistics from the 1987 Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment were updated to 1997 to provide current information on the Nation`s forests. Resource tables present estimates of forest area, volume, mortality, growth, removals, and timber products output in various ways, such as by ownership, region, or State. Current resource data are analyzed and...

This chapter outlines a brief history of the UnitedStates native forests and forest plantations. It describes the past and current natural and plantation forest distribution (map, area, main species), as well as main products produced (timber, pulp, furniture, etc.). Integrated into this discussion is a characterization of the water resources of the UnitedStates and...

Extensive forest inventories of forested lands in the UnitedStates were begun in the early part of the 20th century, but widespread, frequent use was not common until after WWII. Throughout the development of inventory techniques and their application to assess the status of the nation's forests, most of the work has been done by the USDA Forest Service through...

Forest fragmentation threatens the sustainability of forest communities and therefore the beta diversity of forestland in the eastern UnitedStates. We combined forest inventory data with land cover data to compare 70 forest communities in terms of the amount and ownership of int...

Over the last decade, there has been a growing interest in the economic and ecological potential of non-timber forest products. In the UnitedStates, much of this increased interest stems from drastic changes in forest practices and policies in the Pacific Northwest region, a region that produces many non-timber forest products. The forests of the eastern UnitedStates...

Forest resource growth, harvests, and land use conversion can change inventories within States, among regions, and even among countries, and can significantly influence the future performance of resources. This could affect the State, regional, and national economies that depend on the affected resources, as well as the resource environments. Periodic surveys provide...

A report on a 1978 survey of private forest-land owners, based on 11,076 questionnaires. About 7.8 million ownership units hold 333 million acres of privately owned forest land in the UnitedStates. Regional and subregional breakdowns are included for such important variables as form of ownership; owner's occupation, age, sex, race, residence, and education; size...

Forest fragmentation threatens the sustainability of forest interior environments, thereby endangering subordinate ecological attributes and functions. We analyzed the spatial patterns of forest loss and gain for the conterminous UnitedStates from 2001 to 2006 to determine whether forest interior environments were maintained at five spatial scales. A 1.1% net loss of total forest area translated to net losses of 3.2% to 10.5% of forest interior area over spatial scales of 4.41 ha to 5,310 ha...

Many products are harvested fiom the forests of the UnitedStates in addition to timber. These non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are plants, parts of plants, or fungi that are harvested from within and on the edges of natural, disturbed or managed forests. Often, NTFPs are harvested from public forests for the socio-economic benefit they provide to rural collectors....

National assessments of forest fragmentation satisfy international biodiversity conventions, but they do not identify specific places where ecological impacts are likely. In this article, we identify geographic concentrations (hot spots) of forest located near holes in otherwise intact forest canopies (perforated forest) in the eastern UnitedStates, and we describe the proximate causes in terms of the non-forest land-cover types contained in those hot spots. Perforated forest, defined as a 0.09-ha unit of forest that is located at the center of a 7.29-ha neighborhood containing 60-99% forest with relatively low connectivity, was mapped over the eastern UnitedStates by using land-cover maps with roads superimposed. Statistically significant (P forest) were then located by using a spatial scan statistic. Hot spots were widely distributed and covered 20.4% of the total area of the 10 ecological provinces examined, but 50.1% of the total hot-spot area was concentrated in only two provinces. In the central part of the study area, more than 90% of the forest edge in hot spots was attributed to anthropogenic land-cover types, whereas in the northern and southern parts it was more often associated with semi-natural land cover such as herbaceous wetlands.

The northeastern UnitedStates is a predominately-forested region that, like most of the eastern U.S., has undergone a 400-year history of intense logging, land clearance for agriculture, and natural reforestation. This setting affords the opportunity to address a major ecological question: How similar are today's forests to those existing prior to European colonization? Working throughout a nine-state region spanning Maine to Pennsylvania, we assembled a comprehensive database of archival land-survey records describing the forests at the time of European colonization. We compared these records to modern forest inventory data and described: (1) the magnitude and attributes of forest compositional change, (2) the geography of change, and (3) the relationships between change and environmental factors and historical land use. We found that with few exceptions, notably the American chestnut, the same taxa that made up the pre-colonial forest still comprise the forest today, despite ample opportunities for species invasion and loss. Nonetheless, there have been dramatic shifts in the relative abundance of forest taxa. The magnitude of change is spatially clustered at local scales (maple and poplar. Additionally, the modern forest composition is more homogeneous and less coupled to local climatic controls. PMID:24023749

Disturbance events strongly affect the composition, structure, and function of forest ecosystems; however, existing U.S. land management inventories were not designed to monitor disturbance. To begin addressing this gap, the North American Forest Dynamics (NAFD) project has examined a geographic sample of 50 Landsat satellite image time series to assess trends in forest disturbance across the conterminous UnitedStates for 1985-2005. The geographic sample design used a probability-based scheme to encompass major forest types and maximize geographic dispersion. For each sample location disturbance was identified in the Landsat series using the Vegetation Change Tracker (VCT) algorithm. The NAFD analysis indicates that, on average, 2.77 Mha/yr of forests were disturbed annually, representing 1.09%/yr of US forestland. These satellite-based national disturbance rates estimates tend to be lower than those derived from land management inventories, reflecting both methodological and definitional differences. In particular the VCT approach used with a biennial time step has limited sensitivity to low-intensity disturbances. Unlike prior satellite studies, our biennial forest disturbance rates vary by nearly a factor of two between high and low years. High western US disturbance rates were associated with active fire years and insect activity, while variability in the east is more strongly related to harvest rates in managed forests. We note that generating a geographic sample based on representing forest type and variability may be problematic since the spatial pattern of disturbance does not necessarily correlate with forest type. We also find that the prevalence of diffuse, non-stand clearing disturbance in US forests makes the application of a biennial geographic sample problematic. Future satellite-based studies of disturbance at regional and national scales should focus on wall-to-wall analyses with annual time step for improved accuracy.

Full Text Available The northeastern UnitedStates is a predominately-forested region that, like most of the eastern U.S., has undergone a 400-year history of intense logging, land clearance for agriculture, and natural reforestation. This setting affords the opportunity to address a major ecological question: How similar are today's forests to those existing prior to European colonization? Working throughout a nine-state region spanning Maine to Pennsylvania, we assembled a comprehensive database of archival land-survey records describing the forests at the time of European colonization. We compared these records to modern forest inventory data and described: (1 the magnitude and attributes of forest compositional change, (2 the geography of change, and (3 the relationships between change and environmental factors and historical land use. We found that with few exceptions, notably the American chestnut, the same taxa that made up the pre-colonial forest still comprise the forest today, despite ample opportunities for species invasion and loss. Nonetheless, there have been dramatic shifts in the relative abundance of forest taxa. The magnitude of change is spatially clustered at local scales (<125 km but exhibits little evidence of regional-scale gradients. Compositional change is most strongly associated with the historical extent of agricultural clearing. Throughout the region, there has been a broad ecological shift away from late successional taxa, such as beech and hemlock, in favor of early- and mid-successional taxa, such as red maple and poplar. Additionally, the modern forest composition is more homogeneous and less coupled to local climatic controls.

Analysis and display of forest composition, structure, and pattern provides information for a variety of assessments and management decision support. The objective of this study was to produce geospatial datasets and maps of conterminous UnitedStatesforest land ownership, forest site productivity, timberland, and reserved forest land. Satellite image-based maps of...

The Central Hardwood Forest (CHF) in the UnitedStates is currently a major carbon sink, there are uncertainties in how long the current carbon sink will persist and if the CHF will eventually become a carbon source. We used a multi-model ensemble to investigate aboveground carbon density of the CHF from 2010 to 2300 under current climate. Simulations were done using...

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA), a national program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture conducts and maintains comprehensive inventories of the forest resources in the UnitedStates. The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) of 1974 mandates a comprehensive assessment of past trends, current status, and the future potential...

This paper examines three forest value orientations - clusters of interrelated values and basic beliefs about forests - that emerged from an analysis of the public discourse about forest planning, management, and policy in the UnitedStates. The value orientations include anthropocentric, biocentric, and moral/spiritual/aesthetic orientations toward forests. Computer...

Forest cutting is a major anthropogenic disturbance that affects forest carbon (C) storage and fluxes. Yet its characteristics and impacts on C cycling are poorly understood over large areas. Using recent annualized forest inventory data, we estimated cutting-related loss of live biomass in the eastern UnitedStates was 168 Tg C yr-1 from 2002 to 2010 (with C loss per unitforest area of 1.07 Mg ha-1 yr-1), which is equivalent to 70% of the total U.S. forest C sink or 11% of the national annual CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel combustion over the same period. We further revealed that specific cutting-related C loss varied with cutting intensities, forest types, stand ages, and geographic locations. Our results provide new insights to the characteristics of forest harvesting activities in the eastern UnitedStates and highlight the significance of partial cutting to regional and national carbon budgets.

Forests are critically important to the supply of clean drinking water in the Northeast and Midwest portion of the UnitedStates. In this part of the country more than 52 million people depend on surface water supplies that are protected in large part by forested lands. The public is generally unaware of the threats to their water supplies or the connection between...

Extensive vegetation inventories established with a probabilistic design are an indispensable tool in describing distributions of species and community types and detecting changes in composition in response to climate or other drivers. The Forest Inventory and Analysis Program measures vegetation in permanent plots on forested lands across the UnitedStates of America...

In the southeastern UnitedStates, drought can pose a significant threat to forests by reducing the Â amount of availableÂ water, thereby stressing trees. Destructive changes in crown conditions provide the first visible Â indication of a problem in a forested area, making it a useful indicator for problems within an Â ecosystem. Forest Health and Monitoring (FHM) and...

Disturbance events strongly affect the composition, structure, and function of forest ecosystems; however, existing US land management inventories were not designed to monitor disturbance. To begin addressing this gap, the North American Forest Dynamics (NAFD) project has examined a geographic sample of 50 Landsat satellite image time series to assess trends in forest...

The forest carbon accounting system used in recent National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (NGHGI) was developed more than a decade ago when the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis annual inventory system was in its infancy and contemporary questions regarding the terrestrial sink (e.g., attribution) did not exist. The time has come to develop a new...

Full Text Available The documented role of UnitedStatesforests in sequestering carbon, the relatively low cost of forest-based mitigation, and the many co-benefits of increasing forest carbon stocks all contribute to the ongoing trend in the establishment of forest-based carbon offset projects. We present a broad analysis of forest inventory data using site quality indicators to provide guidance to managers planning land acquisition for forest-based greenhouse gas mitigation projects. Specifically, we summarize two condition class indicators of site productivity within the FIA forest inventory database—physclcd and siteclcd—as they relate to current aboveground live tree carbon stocks. Average carbon density is higher on more productive sites, but compared to the overall variability among sites, the differences are relatively small for all but the highest and lowest site classes. Some minor differences in eastern- versus western-forests were apparent in terms of how carbon on the least productive sites differed from most other forest land over time. Overall results suggest that xeric sites in most regions as well as sites that correspond to the lowest, non-productive classifications of forest land should preferentially not be used forestry-based greenhouse gas mitigation projects, but all other forest areas appear to be suitable.

The forest carbon accounting system used in recent National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (NGHGI) was developed more than a decade ago when the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis annual inventory system was in its infancy and contemporary questions regarding the terrestrial sink (e.g., attribution) did not exist. The time has come to develop a new framework that can quickly address new questions, enables forest carbon analytics, and uses all the inventory information (e.g., disturbances and land use change) while having the flexibility to engage a wider breadth of stakeholders and partner agencies. The Forest Carbon Accounting Framework (FCAF) is comprised of a forest dynamics module and a land use dynamics module. Together these modules produce data-driven estimates of carbon stocks and stock changes in forest ecosystems that are sensitive to carbon sequestration, forest aging, and disturbance effects as well as carbon stock transfers associated with afforestation and deforestation. The new accounting system was used in the 2016 NGHGI report and research is currently underway to incorporate emerging non-live tree carbon pool data, remotely sensed information, and auxiliary data (e.g., climate information) into the FCAF.

Anthropogenic and other climate changes, land use changes, forest structure changes, and introduced organisms are difficult to isolate with respect to their cumulative consequences. Similar changes have occurred before with undesirable effects and the currently high human population could suffer greatly if they happen again. Active forest management can help avoid...

Longleafpine (Pinus palustris) forests were historically one of the most extensive ecosystems in North America, covering 38 million ha along the coastal plain from Texas to Virginia and extending into central Florida and the Piedmont and mountains of Alabama and Georgia. Throughout its domain. longleaf pine occurred in forests, woodlands and savannas...

US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture — A map service on the www that depicts sixty-seven maps from Royce’s 1897 report that have been scanned, georeferenced in JPEG2000 format, and digitized to create...

The Central Hardwood Forest (CHF) in the UnitedStates is currently a major carbon sink, there are uncertainties in how long the current carbon sink will persist and if the CHF will eventually become a carbon source. We used a multi-model ensemble to investigate aboveground carbon density of the CHF from 2010 to 2300 under current climate. Simulations were done using one representative model for each of the simple, intermediate, and complex demographic approaches (ED2, LANDIS PRO, and LINKAGES, respectively). All approaches agreed that the current carbon sink would persist at least to 2100. However, carbon dynamics after current carbon sink diminishes to zero differ for different demographic modelling approaches. Both the simple and the complex demographic approaches predicted prolonged periods of relatively stable carbon densities after 2100, with minor declines, until the end of simulations in 2300. In contrast, the intermediate demographic approach predicted the CHF would become a carbon source between 2110 and 2260, followed by another carbon sink period. The disagreement between these patterns can be partly explained by differences in the capacity of models to simulate gross growth (both birth and subsequent growth) and mortality of short-lived, relatively shade-intolerant tree species. PMID:28165483

The southeast UnitedStates (SE-US) is dominated by tree plantations and other forms of industrial forests that provide vital socio-ecological services to the human society. Most of these forests are managed to maximize economic outcome, and hence are often subject to intensive management practices and have different harvest-regrowth cycles as compared with natural forest ecosystems. Through the North American Forest Dynamics (NAFD) study, we have mapped forest disturbances for the conterminous UnitedStates using dense time series Landsat observations. The derived map products revealed that more than 50% of the forests in SE-US were harvested or disturbed by other forms of human or natural disturbance events at least once between 1986 and 2010. These products are being analyzed together with ancillary GIS data sets and field inventory data to identify industrial forests and to quantify their logging intensity, timber output, recovery rate, and the harvest-regrowth cycle. The derived results will be summarized in this presentation, along with discussions of the underlying environmental and management factors that may drive the spatio-temporal dynamics of the industrial forests in SE-US.

The caloric value of a variety of southern forest fuels was determined in an oxygen bomb calorimeter. High heat values ranged between about 3,600 and 5,200 cal./g. for fuels as sampled and between 4,500 and 5,600 cal./g. for fuels on an ash-free basis. Additional tests of forest fuels from the Southern, Eastern, and North Central UnitedStates showed a...

Production of woody biomass for bioenergy, whether wood pellets or liquid biofuels, has the potential to cause substantial landscape change and concomitant effects on forest ecosystems, but the landscape effects of alternative production scenarios have not been fully assessed. We simulated landscape change from 2010 to 2050 under five scenarios of woody biomass production for wood pellets and liquid biofuels in North Carolina, in the southeastern UnitedStates, a region that is a substantial producer of wood biomass for bioenergy and contains high biodiversity. Modeled scenarios varied biomass feedstocks, incorporating harvest of ‘conventional’ forests, which include naturally regenerating as well as planted forests that exist on the landscape even without bioenergy production, as well as purpose-grown woody crops grown on marginal lands. Results reveal trade-offs among scenarios in terms of overall forest area and the characteristics of the remaining forest in 2050. Meeting demand for biomass from conventional forests resulted in more total forest land compared with a baseline, business-as-usual scenario. However, the remaining forest was composed of more intensively managed forest and less of the bottomland hardwood and longleaf pine habitats that support biodiversity. Converting marginal forest to purpose-grown crops reduced forest area, but the remaining forest contained more of the critical habitats for biodiversity. Conversion of marginal agricultural lands to purpose-grown crops resulted in smaller differences from the baseline scenario in terms of forest area and the characteristics of remaining forest habitats. Each scenario affected the dominant type of land-use change in some regions, especially in the coastal plain that harbors high levels of biodiversity. Our results demonstrate the complex landscape effects of alternative bioenergy scenarios, highlight that the regions most likely to be affected by bioenergy production are also critical for

Conservation of genetic diversity is recognized as an important requirement of sustainable forest management. Gene conservation activities include in situ conservation of native stands in reserves and ex situ conservation in seed banks, genetic tests, seed and breeding orchards, and other plantations of known identity. We present an example from Oregon and Washington...

Given the substantial role that forests play in removing CO2 from the atmosphere, there has been a growing need to evaluate the carbon (C) implications of various forest management and land-use decisions. Although assessment of land-use change is central to national-level greenhouse gas monitoring guidelines, it is rarely incorporated into forest stand-level evaluations of C dynamics and trajectories. To better inform the assessment of forest stand C dynamics in the context of potential land-use change, we used a region-wide repeated forest inventory (n = 71 444 plots) across the eastern UnitedStates to assess forest land-use conversion and associated changes in forest C stocks. Specifically, the probability of forest area reduction between 2002–2006 and 2007–2012 on these plots was related to key driving factors such as proportion of the landscape in forest land use, distance to roads, and initial forest C. Additional factors influencing the actual reduction in forest area were then used to assess the risk of forest land-use conversion to agriculture, settlement, and water. Plots in forests along the Great Plains had the highest periodic (approximately 5 years) probability of land-use change (0.160 ± 0.075; mean ± SD) with forest conversion to agricultural uses accounting for 70.5% of the observed land-use change. Aboveground forest C stock change for plots with a reduction in forest area was ‑4.2 ± 17.7 Mg ha‑1 (mean ± SD). The finding that poorly stocked stands and/or those with small diameter trees had the highest probability of conversion to non-forest land uses suggests that forest management strategies can maintain the US terrestrial C sink not only in terms of increased net forest growth but also retention of forest area to avoid conversion. This study highlights the importance of considering land-use change in planning and policy decisions that seek to maintain or enhance regional C sinks.

Atmospherically-deposited Hg has a strong affinity for soil organic matter. The Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program collects soil samples from forested areas across the UnitedStates as part of its sampling program, and annual soils inventories are underway or completed in 46 of the 50 states (Alaska, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Oklahoma have yet to be sampled). Our objective is to describe the spatial distribution of forest floor Hg for a transect running across the UnitedStates, from Arizona in the southwest to Maine in the northeast. The collection of forest floor samples was accomplished as part of the standard FIA Phase 3 Soil Quality Indicator program. Field protocols include the measurement of the thickness of the forest floor and the collection of the entire forest floor found within a 30-cm diameter sampling frame. We removed approximately 0.1 g of the sample for plots in our region of interest, and these were sent to two different laboratories for Hg analysis by cold-vapor atomic absorption. The two laboratories calibrated their instruments against common Hg standards. We found good agreement between samples analyzed at both laboratories. Observations of mercury concentrations were joined with the Forest Inventory and Analysis Database and other geospatial databases to assign basic location information and associated inventory data. Ecoprovince and forest-type group are significant predictors of Hg storage; conifer species tend to store more mercury than hardwood species. Additionally, models created using spatially-explicit techniques yield distinct patterns of Hg storage that vary across forest-type groups.

Nitrogen export from small forested watersheds is known to be affected by N deposition but with high regional variability. We studied 10 headwater catchments in the northeastern UnitedStates across a gradient of N deposition (5.4 − 9.4 kg ha−1Â yr−1) to determine if soil nitrification rates...

Trees remove air pollution by the interception of particulate matter on plant surfaces and the absorption of gaseous pollutants through the leaf stomata. However, the magnitude and value of the effects of trees and forests on air quality and human health across the UnitedStates remains unknown. Computer simulations with local environmental data reveal that trees and...

In this study, we present a coarse-scale, first approximation of the geographic areas where privately owned forests support at-risk species in the conterminous UnitedStates. At-risk species are defined as those species listed under the US Endangered Species Act or with a global conservation status rank of critically imperiled, imperiled, or vulnerable. Our results...

The southern UnitedStates produces over 50% of commercial timber harvests in the US and the demand for southern timber are likely to increase in the future. Global change is altering the physical and chemical environmental which will play a major role in determining future forest stand growth, insect and disease outbreaks, regeneration success, and distribution of...

The U.S. Forest Service (FS) has a long, shared history with the Spanish and Mexican land grants of northern New Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the war between the UnitedStates and Mexico, was supposed to recognize and respect the property rights of the resident Hispano population. In many cases the intent of the Treaty was not honored. During...

The impact of smoke from forest burning on air quality is a threat to the use of prescribed fire to manage woodlands in the eastern UnitedStates. Population shifts from urban centers to the wildland/urban interface have increased human exposures to smoke. Tighter national ambient air quality standards restrict the amount of smoke released over an area. This article...

We investigate the potential of geospatiotemporal data mining of multi-year land surface phenology data (250 m Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in this study) for the conterminous UnitedStates as part of an early warning system to identify threats to forest ecosystems. Cluster...

Forests of North America are thought to constitute a significant long-term sink for atmospheric carbon. The UnitedStatesForest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program has developed a large database of stock changes derived from consecutive estimates of growing stock volume in the U.S. These data reveal a large and relatively stable increase in forest carbon stocks over the last two decades or more. The mechanisms underlying this national increase in forest stocks may include recovery of forests from past disturbances, net increases in forest area, and growth enhancement driven by climate or fertilization by CO2and Nitrogen. Here we estimate the forest recovery component of the observed stock changes using FIA data on the age structure of U.S. forests and carbon stocks as a function of age. The latter are used to parameterize forest disturbance and recovery processes in a carbon cycle model. We then apply resulting disturbance/recovery dynamics to landscapes and regions based on the forest age distributions. The analysis centers on 28 representative climate settings spread about forested regions of the conterminous U.S. We estimate carbon fluxes for each region and propagate uncertainties in calibration data through to the predicted fluxes. The largest recovery-driven carbon sinks are found in the South Central, Pacific Northwest, and Pacific Southwest regions, with spatially averaged net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of about 100 g C m-2 a-1 driven by forest age structure. Carbon sinks from recovery in the Northeast and Northern Lakes States remain moderate to large owing to the legacy of historical clearing and relatively low modern disturbance rates from harvest and fire. At the continental scale, we find a conterminous U.S. forest NEP of only 0.16 Pg C a-1 from age structure in 2005, or only 0.047 Pg C a-1 of forest stock change after accounting for fire emissions and harvest transfers. Recent estimates of NEP derived from inventory stock change

In the western UnitedStates, forest ecosystems are subject to a variety of forcing mechanisms that drive dynamics, including climate change, land-use/land-cover change, atmospheric pollution, and disturbance. To understand the impacts of these stressors, it is crucial to develop assessments of forest properties to establish baselines, determine the extent of changes, and provide information to ecosystem modeling activities. Here we report on spatial patterns of characteristics of forest ecosystems in the western UnitedStates, including area, stand age, forest type, and carbon stocks, and comparisons of these patterns with those from satellite imagery and simulation models. The USDA Forest Service collected ground-based measurements of tree and plot information in recent decades as part of nationwide forest inventories. Using these measurements together with a methodology for estimating carbon stocks for each tree measured, we mapped county-level patterns across the western UnitedStates. Because forest ecosystem properties are often significantly different between hardwood and softwood species, we describe patterns of each. The stand age distribution peaked at 60-100 years across the region, with hardwoods typically younger than softwoods. Forest carbon density was highest along the coast region of northern California, Oregon, and Washington and lowest in the arid regions of the Southwest and along the edge of the Great Plains. These results quantify the spatial variability of forest characteristics important for understanding large-scale ecosystem processes and their controlling mechanisms. To illustrate other uses of the inventory-derived forest characteristics, we compared them against examples of independently derived estimates. Forest cover compared well with satellite-derived values when only productive stands were included in the inventory estimates. Forest types derived from satellite observations were similar to our inventory results, though the

The UnitedStates, in partnership with 11 other countries, participates in the Montreal Process. Each country assesses national progress toward the sustainable management of forest resources by using a set of criteria and indicators agreed on by all member countries. Several indicators focus on nontimber forest products (NTFPs). In the UnitedStates, permit and...

Using forests to mitigate climate change has gained much interest in science and policy discussions. We examine the evidence for carbon benefits, environmental and monetary costs, risks and trade-offs for a variety of activities in three general strategies: (1) land use change to increase forest area (afforestation) and avoid deforestation; (2) carbon management in existing forests; and (3) the use of wood as biomass energy, in place of other building materials, or in wood products for carbon storage. We found that many strategies can increase forest sector carbon mitigation above the current 162-256 Tg C/yr, and that many strategies have co-benefits such as biodiversity, water, and economic opportunities. Each strategy also has trade-offs, risks, and uncertainties including possible leakage, permanence, disturbances, and climate change effects. Because approximately 60% of the carbon lost through deforestation and harvesting from 1700 to 1935 has not yet been recovered and because some strategies store carbon in forest products or use biomass energy, the biological potential for forest sector carbon mitigation is large. Several studies suggest that using these strategies could offset as much as 10-20% of current U.S. fossil fuel emissions. To obtain such large offsets in the UnitedStates would require a combination of afforesting up to one-third of cropland or pastureland, using the equivalent of about one-half of the gross annual forest growth for biomass energy, or implementing more intensive management to increase forest growth on one-third of forestland. Such large offsets would require substantial trade-offs, such as lower agricultural production and non-carbon ecosystem services from forests. The effectiveness of activities could be diluted by negative leakage effects and increasing disturbance regimes. Because forest carbon loss contributes to increasing climate risk and because climate change may impede regeneration following disturbance, avoiding

Over the last decade, biomass statistics have been published for most states. However, the existing aggregate data are either limited or out of date. The most recent statistics on biomass were for 1980 (U.S. Department of Agriculture 1981). The development of such data continues to lag even though user interest is high. This study was initiated to provide current...

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of CO2 through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The UnitedStatesForest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Western UnitedStates land managers are conducting fuel reduction and forest restoration treatments in forests with altered structural conditions. As part of the National Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) study, thinning and burning treatments were evaluated for changing forest structure. Shifts between pretreatment and posttreatment diameter distributions at seven western...

UnitedStatesforests and wood products have been a significant and persistent carbon sink of 100-200 million tons annually since 1950, currently offsetting about 12% of U.S. emissions of CO2. This carbon sink is caused by recovery of forest C stocks following timber harvest and abandonment of agricultural land over the last 150 years, and more recently the growth-enhancing effects of N deposition, increasing atmospheric CO2, and climate variability. The forest carbon sink would have been significantly larger if not for continued losses of forest to other land uses such as urban development, and increasing impacts from natural disturbances such as fire and insect outbreaks. Projections of the future U.S. C sink have raised concerns that it may disappear in a few decades because of slower growth, continued losses of forest area, and increasing demand for timber products especially bioenergy. However, continuing atmospheric and climate changes may delay this projected decline in the sink strength for another 50 years or longer. Research is urgently needed to improve projections of land-use changes and demand for timber, quantify the large-scale effects of atmospheric change and climate variability, and develop modeling approaches that can effectively integrate these multiple factors. Policy decisions to meet emissions reduction targets are partially dependent on assumptions about the magnitude of the future forest carbon sink; therefore, it is important to have convincing projections about how these various driving factors will affect forests in the future.

Forest ecosystems are the largest terrestrial carbon sink on earth, with more than half of their net primary production moving to the soil via the decomposition of litter biomass. Therefore, changes in the litter carbon (C) pool have important implications for global carbon budgets and carbon emissions reduction targets and negotiations. Litter accounts for an estimated 5% of all forest ecosystem carbon stocks worldwide. Given the cost and time required to measure litter attributes, many of the signatory nations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change report estimates of litter carbon stocks and stock changes using default values from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or country-specific models. In the UnitedStates, the country-specific model used to predict litter C stocks is sensitive to attributes on each plot in the national forest inventory, but these predictions are not associated with the litter samples collected over the last decade in the national forest inventory. Here we present, for the first time, estimates of litter carbon obtained using more than 5000 field measurements from the national forest inventory of the UnitedStates. The field-based estimates mark a 44% reduction (2081±77Tg) in litter carbon stocks nationally when compared to country-specific model predictions reported in previous United Framework Convention on Climate Change submissions. Our work suggests that Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defaults and country-specific models used to estimate litter carbon in temperate forest ecosystems may grossly overestimate the contribution of this pool in national carbon budgets.

Forest soils represent a large portion of global terrestrial carbon; however, which soil carbon sources are used by soil microbes and respired as carbon dioxide (CO2) is not well known. This study will focus on characterizing microbial carbon sources from organic and mineral soils from four eastern UnitedStates deciduous forests using a unique radiocarbon (14C) tracer. Results from the dark incubation of organic and mineral soils are heavily influenced by site characteristics when incubated at optimal microbial activity temperature. Sites with considerable differences in temperature, texture, and location differ in carbon source attribution, indicating that site characteristics play a role in soil respiration.

Trees remove air pollution by the interception of particulate matter on plant surfaces and the absorption of gaseous pollutants through the leaf stomata. However, the magnitude and value of the effects of trees and forests on air quality and human health across the UnitedStates remains unknown. Computer simulations with local environmental data reveal that trees and forests in the conterminous UnitedStates removed 17.4 million tonnes (t) of air pollution in 2010 (range: 9.0-23.2 million t), with human health effects valued at 6.8 billion U.S. dollars (range: $1.5-13.0 billion). This pollution removal equated to an average air quality improvement of less than one percent. Most of the pollution removal occurred in rural areas, while most of the health impacts and values were within urban areas. Health impacts included the avoidance of more than 850 incidences of human mortality and 670,000 incidences of acute respiratory symptoms.

Climate change is restructuring forests of the UnitedStates, although the details of this restructuring are currently uncertain. Rising temperatures of 2 to 8oC and associated changes in soil moisture will shift the competitive balance between species that compete for light and water, and so change their abilities to produce seed, germinate, grow, and survive. We have used large-scale experiments to determine the effects of warming on the most sensitive stage of species distributions, i.e., recruitment, in mixed deciduous forests in southern New England and in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Two questions organized our research: (1) Might temperate tree species near the “warm” end of their range in the eastern UnitedStates decline in abundance during the coming century due to projected warming? and (2) Might trees near the “cool” end of their range in the eastern UnitedStates increase in abundance, or extend their range, during the coming 100 years because of projected warming? To explore these questions, we exposed seedlings to air and soil warming experiments in two eastern deciduous forest sites; one at the Harvard Forest (HF) in central Massachusetts, and the other at the Duke Forest (DF) in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. We focused on tree species common to both Harvard and Duke Forests (such as red, black, and white oaks), those near northern range limits (black oak, flowing dogwood, tulip poplar), and those near southern range limits (yellow birch, sugar maple, Virginia pine). At each site, we planted seeds and seedlings in common gardens established in temperature-controlled, open-top chambers. The experimental design was replicated and fully factorial and involved three temperature regimes (ambient, +3oC and +5oC) and two light regimes (closed forest canopy (low light) and gap conditions (high light)). Measured variables included Winter/Spring responses to temperature and mid-Summer responses to low soil moisture. This research

Biogeochemical mass balance assessments of calcium status in southeastern forests indicate that losses through harvesting and soil leaching often exceed inputs from atmospheric deposition and weathering. Many forest soils of the southeastern UnitedStates are particularly sensitive because these soils and the underlying saprolite from which these soils are derived are largely depleted of weatherable calcium. At most of the intensively studied sites in the southeastern UnitedStates, it is estimated that calcium depletion has already reduced or will likely reduce exchangeable soil calcium reserves to less than the estimated requirement for a merchantable forest stand in 150 years or less. At most sites, calcium uptake into merchantable wood equals or exceeds soil leaching losses. Chronic atmospheric deposition of sulfate and nitrate and declining atmospheric deposition of calcium are likely to accelerate calcium depletion. The southeastern U.S. regional distribution of soil calcium pools and calcium fluxes (deposition and uptake in merchantable wood) indicates that the depletion status of the intensively studied sites is representative of a substantially larger area. Where weathering inputs are insufficient to replace leaching and uptake losses, there is a potential for a regional problem in forest nutrition over the long term.

In recent decades, intense droughts, insect outbreaks, and wildfires have led to decreasing tree growth and increasingmortality inmany temperate forests. We compared annual tree-ring width data from 1,097 populations in the coterminous UnitedStates to climate data and evaluated site-specific tree responses to climate variations throughout the 20th century. For each population, we developed a climate-driven growth equation by using climate records to predict annual ring widths. Forests within the southwestern UnitedStates appear particularly sensitive to drought and warmth.We input 21st century climate projections to the equations to predict growth responses. Our results suggest that if temperature and aridity rise as they are projected to, southwestern trees will experience substantially reduced growth during this century. As tree growth declines, mortality rates may increase at many sites. Increases in wildfires and bark-beetle outbreaks in the most recent decade are likely related to extreme drought and high temperatures during this period. Using satellite imagery and aerial survey data, we conservatively calculate that ???2.7% of southwestern forest and woodland area experienced substantialmortality due to wildfires from1984 to 2006, and???7. 6%experiencedmortality associated with bark beetles from 1997 to 2008. We estimate that up to ???18% of southwestern forest area (excluding woodlands) experienced mortality due to bark beetles or wildfire during this period. Expected climatic changes will alter future forest productivity, disturbance regimes, and species ranges throughout the Southwest. Emerging knowledge of these impending transitions informs efforts to adaptively manage southwestern forests.

The UnitedStates Climate Change Initiative includes improvements to the U.S. Department of Energy's Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. The program includes specific accounting rules and guidelines for reporting and registering forestry activities that reduce atmospheric CO2 by increasing carbon sequestration or reducing emissions. In the forestry sector, there is potential for the economic value of emissions credits to provide increased income for landowners, to support rural development, to facilitate the practice of sustainable forest management, and to support restoration of ecosystems. Forestry activities with potential for achieving substantial reductions include, but are not limited to: afforestation, mine land reclamation, forest restoration, agroforestry, forest management, short-rotation biomass energy plantations, forest protection, wood production, and urban forestry. To be eligible for registration, the reported reductions must use methods and meet standards contained in the guidelines. Forestry presents some unique challenges and opportunities because of the diversity of activities, the variety of practices that can affect greenhouse gases, year-to-year variability in emissions and sequestration, the effects of activities on different forest carbon pools, and accounting for the effects of natural disturbance.

Changes in forest ecosystem structure and functions are considered some of the research issues in landscape ecology. In this study, advancing Forman's theory, we considered five spatially explicit processes associated with fragmentation, including perforation, dissection, subdivision, shrinkage, and attrition, and two processes associated with restoration, i.e., increment and expansion processes. Following this theory, a forest fragmentation and restoration process model that can detect the spatially explicit processes and ecological consequences of forest landscape change was developed and tested in the current analysis. Using the National Land Cover Databases (2001, 2006 and 2011), the forest fragmentation and restoration process model was applied to US western natural forests and southeastern plantation forests to quantify and classify forest patch losses into one of the four fragmentation processes (the dissection process was merged into the subdivision process) and to classify the newly gained forest patches based on the two restoration processes. At the same time, the spatio-temporal differences in fragmentation and restoration patterns and trends between natural forests and plantations were further compared. Then, through overlaying the forest fragmentation/restoration processes maps with targeting year land cover data and land ownership vectors, the results from forest fragmentation and the contributors to forest restoration in federal and nonfederal lands were identified. Results showed that, in natural forests, the forest change patches concentrated around the urban/forest, cultivated/forest, and shrubland/forest interfaces, while the patterns of plantation change patches were scattered sparsely and irregularly. The shrinkage process was the most common type in forest fragmentation, and the average size was the smallest. Expansion, the most common restoration process, was observed in both natural forests and plantations and often occurred around the

Phenological events, such as bud burst, are strongly linked to ecosystem processes in temperate deciduous forests. However, the exact nature and magnitude of how seasonal and interannual variation in air temperatures influence phenology is poorly understood, and model-based phenology representations fail to capture local- to regional-scale variability arising from differences in species composition. In this paper, we use a combination of surface meteorological data, species composition maps, remote sensing, and ground-based observations to estimate models that better represent how community-level species composition affects the phenological response of deciduous broadleaf forests to climate forcing at spatial scales that are typically used in ecosystem models. Using time series of canopy greenness from repeat digital photography, citizen science data from the USA National Phenology Network, and satellite remote sensing-based observations of phenology, we estimated and tested models that predict the timing of spring leaf emergence across five different deciduous broadleaf forest types in the eastern UnitedStates. Specifically, we evaluated two different approaches: (i) using species-specific models in combination with species composition information to 'upscale' model predictions and (ii) using repeat digital photography of forest canopies that observe and integrate the phenological behavior of multiple representative species at each camera site to calibrate a single model for all deciduous broadleaf forests. Our results demonstrate variability in cumulative forcing requirements and photoperiod cues across species and forest types, and show how community composition influences phenological dynamics over large areas. At the same time, the response of different species to spatial and interannual variation in weather is, under the current climate regime, sufficiently similar that the generic deciduous forest model based on repeat digital photography performed

Forest resource statistics from the 2010 Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment were updated to provide current information on the Nation's forests as a baseline for the 2015 national assessment. Resource tables present estimates of forest area, volume, mortality, growth, removals, and timber products output in various ways, such as by ownership, region, or State...

US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture — The data are designed for strategic analyses at a national or regional scale which require spatially explicit information regarding the extent, distribution, and...

Decades of study on climatic change and its direct and indirect effects on forest ecosystems provide important insights for forest science, management, and policy. A synthesis of recent research from the northeastern UnitedStates and eastern Canada shows that the climate of the region has become warmer and wetter over the past 100 years and that there are more extreme precipitation events. Greater change is projected in the future. The amount of projected future change depends on the emissions scenarios used. Tree species composition of northeast forests has shifted slowly in response to climate for thousands of years. However, current human-accelerated climate change is much more rapid and it is unclear how forests will respond to large changes in suitable habitat. Projections indicate significant declines in suitable habitat for spruce-fir forests and expansion of suitable habitat for oak-dominated forests. Productivity gains that might result from extended growing seasons and carbon dioxide and nitrogen fertilization may be offset by productivity losses associated with the disruption of species assemblages and concurrent stresses associated with potential increases in atmospheric deposition of pollutants, forest fragmentation, and nuisance species. Investigations of links to water and nutrient cycling suggest that changes in evapotranspiration, soil respiration, and mineralization rates could result in significant alterations of key ecosystem processes. Climate change affects the distribution and abundance of many wildlife species in the region through changes in habitat, food availability, thermal tolerances, species interactions such as competition, and susceptibility to parasites and disease. Birds are the most studied northeastern taxa. Twenty-seven of the 38 bird species for which we have adequate long-term records have expanded their ranges predominantly in a northward direction. There is some evidence to suggest that novel species, including pests and

The roots of American ginseng have been harvested from the hardwood forests of eastern UnitedStates, along-side timber, since the mid-1700s. Very little is known about this non-timber commodity relative to timber, although significant volumes of ginseng root have been harvested from the same forests along with timber. The harvest of ginseng correlated positively and...

A review of the current status of air pollution and climate change (CC) in the UnitedStates from a perspective of their impacts on forest ecosystems is provided. Ambient ozone (O3) and nitrogen (N) deposition have important and widespread ecological impacts in U.S. forests. Effects of sulphurous (S) air pollutants and other trace pollutants have...

We tested whether a general spread model could capture macroecological patterns across all damaging invasive forest pests in the UnitedStates. We showed that a common constant dispersal kernel model, simulated from the discovery date, explained 67.94% of the variation in range size across all pests, and had 68.00% locational accuracy between predicted and observed locational distributions. Further, by making dispersal a function of forest area and human population density, variation explained increased to 75.60%, with 74.30% accuracy. These results indicated that a single general dispersal kernel model was sufficient to predict the majority of variation in extent and locational distribution across pest species and that proxies of propagule pressure and habitat invasibility - well-studied predictors of establishment - should also be applied to the dispersal stage. This model provides a key element to forecast novel invaders and to extend pathway-level risk analyses to include spread.

Early successional forest habitat (ESH) and associated wildlife species in the northeastern UnitedStates are in decline. One way to help create early successional forest conditions is engaging private forest landowners in even-aged forest management because their limited participation may have contributed to declines in ESH for wildlife species of high conservation concern. We applied the reasoned action approach from social psychology to predict intentions of landowners in the 13-county Southern Tier of New York State, USA, to conduct patch-cuts, which is a type of even-aged forest management. We tested the predictive ability of the model using data from a mail survey of landowners conducted from November 2010 to January 2011. Landowner intention to conduct patch-cuts was high (55% of respondents), with attitude being the strongest direct predictor of behavioral intention. Our results suggest that patch-cutting intentions are most likely expressed by landowners who think the behavior is good for their land and wildlife, believe in positive outcomes of land and wildlife management, belong to a game wildlife organization, and have conducted patch-cuts in the past. Strategies to engage more landowners in ESH management will have the highest likelihood of success if outreach efforts focus on influencing behavioral beliefs and subsequently attitudes, possibly working with game wildlife organizations to communicate a unified message for habitat conservation, including the importance of maintaining and creating ESH. Our results demonstrate the importance of social science research to increase the likelihood that conservation targets for declining wildlife species are met. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

The national forests (NFs) in the UnitedStates are protected areas managed for multiple purposes, and therefore are subject to both natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Monitoring forest changes arising from such disturbances and the post-disturbance recovery processes is essential for assessing the conditions of the NFs and the effectiveness of management approaches. In this study, we used time series stacks of Landsat images (LTSS) to evaluate the dynamics of seven NFs in eastern UnitedStates, including the De Soto NF, the Talladega NF, the Francis Marion NF, and the Uwharrie NF in southeastern U.S., and the Chequamegon NF, the Hiawatha NF, and the Superior NF in northern U.S. Each LTSS consisted of 12-14 Landsat images acquired for the same location, spanning from 1984 to 2006 with a nominal interval of one image every 2??years. Each LTSS was analyzed using a vegetation change tracker (VCT) algorithm to map forest disturbance. Accuracy assessments of the derived disturbance maps revealed that they had overall accuracy values of about 80%, with most of the disturbance classes having user's accuracies ranging from 70% to 95%. The producer's accuracies were generally lower, with the majority being in the range between 50% and 70%. While this may suggest that the disturbance maps could slightly underestimate disturbances, a more detailed assessment of the omission errors revealed that the majority of the disagreements were due to minor disturbances like thinning or storm damages that were identified by the image analysts but were not captured by the VCT algorithm. The derived disturbance year maps revealed that while each of the seven NFs consisted of 90% or more forest land, significant portions of the forests were disturbed since 1984. Mapped disturbances accounted for about 30%-45% of total land area in the four NFs in southeastern U.S. and about 10%-20% in the three NFs in northern U.S. The disturbance rates were generally higher in the buffer zones

Terrestrial ecosystems sequester roughly 30% of anthropogenic carbon emissions globally. While climate change is believed to drive ecosystem carbon cycles, land use and land cover (LULC) changes are becoming increasingly recognized as dominant drivers as well. The UnitedStates and China are the top two CO2 emitting countries in the world. On the other hand, the two countries both have tremendous land extent and thus enormous potential to sequester carbon. In this study, we focused on quantifying and comparing the climate effect and the LULC change effect on forest carbon sequestration in the two countries. The process-based Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS) was used to simulate the effects of atmospheric CO2 fertilization, nitrogen deposition, climate change, fire disturbance, logging, and deforestation/reforestation on ecosystem carbon changes. Output variables included carbon stocks, such as live and dead biomass, and carbon fluxes, such as fire carbon combustion, logging removal, net ecosystem productivity (NPP) and net biome productivity (NBP). A comprehensive environmental input spatial dataset (1-km to 10-km resolution) was developed and used in IBIS, which included land cover change information derived from the Landsat data archive (1973 -2010), wildland fire scar and burn severity information (1984-2010), forest canopy percentage and live biomass (~2000), spatially heterogeneous atmospheric CO2 concentration and nitrogen deposition (2003-2009), and newly available climate and soil variables. In addition, forest field inventory data were used to calibrate the IBIS model. Initial comparison of results indicate that although the two countries have significant differences in forest land area, forest age structure, biomass stock level, and disturbance type, the overall annual carbon sequestration rates are comparable.

The historical and pre-settlement relationships between drought and wildfire are well documented in North America, with forest fire occurrence and area clearly increasing in response to drought. There is also evidence that drought interacts with other controls (forest productivity, topography, fire weather, management activities) to affect fire intensity, severity, extent, and frequency. Fire regime characteristics arise across many individual fires at a variety of spatial and temporal scales, so both weather and climate—including short- and long-term droughts—are important and influence several, but not all, aspects of fire regimes. We review relationships between drought and fire regimes in UnitedStatesforests, fire-related drought metrics and expected changes in fire risk, and implications for fire management under climate change. Collectively, this points to a conceptual model of fire on real landscapes: fire regimes, and how they change through time, are products of fuels and how other factors affect their availability (abundance, arrangement, continuity) and flammability (moisture, chemical composition). Climate, management, and land use all affect availability, flammability, and probability of ignition differently in different parts of North America. From a fire ecology perspective, the concept of drought varies with scale, application, scientific or management objective, and ecosystem.

Full Text Available Reliable estimates of the impacts and costs of biological invasions are critical to developing credible management, trade and regulatory policies. Worldwide, forests and urban trees provide important ecosystem services as well as economic and social benefits, but are threatened by non-native insects. More than 450 non-native forest insects are established in the UnitedStates but estimates of broad-scale economic impacts associated with these species are largely unavailable. We developed a novel modeling approach that maximizes the use of available data, accounts for multiple sources of uncertainty, and provides cost estimates for three major feeding guilds of non-native forest insects. For each guild, we calculated the economic damages for five cost categories and we estimated the probability of future introductions of damaging pests. We found that costs are largely borne by homeowners and municipal governments. Wood- and phloem-boring insects are anticipated to cause the largest economic impacts by annually inducing nearly $1.7 billion in local government expenditures and approximately $830 million in lost residential property values. Given observations of new species, there is a 32% chance that another highly destructive borer species will invade the U.S. in the next 10 years. Our damage estimates provide a crucial but previously missing component of cost-benefit analyses to evaluate policies and management options intended to reduce species introductions. The modeling approach we developed is highly flexible and could be similarly employed to estimate damages in other countries or natural resource sectors.

This study attempts to ascertain the environmental and economic suitability of utilizing forest biomass for cellulosic ethanol production in the Southern UnitedStates. The study is divided into six chapters. The first chapter details the background and defines the relevance of the study along with objectives. The second chapter reviews the existing literature to ascertain the present status of various existing conversion technologies. The third chapter assesses the net energy ratio and global warming impact of ethanol produced from slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) biomass. A life-cycle assessment was applied to achieve the task. The fourth chapter assesses the role of emerging bioenergy and voluntary carbon markets on the profitability of non-industrial private forest (NIPF) landowners by combining the Faustmann and Hartmann models. The fifth chapter assesses perceptions of four stakeholder groups (Non-Government Organization, Academics, Industries, and Government) on the use of forest biomass for bioenergy production in the Southern UnitedStates using the SWOT-AHP (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat-Analytical Hierarchy Process) technique. Finally, overall conclusions are made in the sixth chapter. Results indicate that currently the production of cellulosic ethanol is limited as the production cost of cellulosic ethanol is higher than the production cost of ethanol derived from corn. However, it is expected that the production cost of cellulosic ethanol will come down in the future from its current level due to ongoing research efforts. The total global warming impact of E85 fuel (production and consumption) was found as 10.44 tons where as global warming impact of an equivalent amount of gasoline (production and consumption) was 21.45 tons. This suggests that the production and use of ethanol derived from slash pine biomass in the form of E85 fuel in an automobile saves about 51% of carbon emissions when compared to gasoline. The net energy ratio

We live in an era of unprecedented ecological change in which ecologists and natural resource managers are increasingly challenged to anticipate and prepare for the ecological effects of future global change. In this study, we investigated the potential effect of winter climate change upon salt marsh and mangrove forest foundation species in the southeastern UnitedStates. Our research addresses the following three questions: (1) What is the relationship between winter climate and the presence and abundance of mangrove forests relative to salt marshes; (2) How vulnerable are salt marshes to winter climate change-induced mangrove forest range expansion; and (3) What is the potential future distribution and relative abundance of mangrove forests under alternative winter climate change scenarios? We developed simple winter climate-based models to predict mangrove forest distribution and relative abundance using observed winter temperature data (1970-2000) and mangrove forest and salt marsh habitat data. Our results identify winter climate thresholds for salt marsh-mangrove forest interactions and highlight coastal areas in the southeastern UnitedStates (e.g., Texas, Louisiana, and parts of Florida) where relatively small changes in the intensity and frequency of extreme winter events could cause relatively dramatic landscape-scale ecosystem structural and functional change in the form of poleward mangrove forest migration and salt marsh displacement. The ecological implications of these marsh-to-mangrove forest conversions are poorly understood, but would likely include changes for associated fish and wildlife populations and for the supply of some ecosystem goods and services.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations conducted a global assessment for forest change in 2010 using satellite imagery from 1990, 2000, and 2005. The U.S. Forest Service was responsible for assessing forest change in the UnitedStates. A polygon-based, stratified sampling design developed by FAO was used to assess change in forest area...

Recently bark beetle outbreaks have been increasing in western UnitedStatesforests due to increases in temperatures and prolonged occurrence of droughts. Bark beetle outbreaks transfer carbon from the live photosynthesizing pools to the dead respiring pool where carbon slowly decomposes into the atmosphere causing landscapes to change from a net sink to source of carbon. Previous studies have usually been conducted at small localized areas, focused only on one or two bark beetle types or encompass a single outbreak event. The literature largely ignores the influence of bark beetle mortality on carbon balance at both local and regional scales by focusing on multiple bark beetles types and events. This study uses a combination of the Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach (CASA) carbon cycle model driven by remotely sensed biophysical observations, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) derived post-disturbance biomass regeneration trajectories, and mortality rates obtained from Aerial Detection Survey (ADS) insect outbreak polygons. The synthesis of the carbon cycle based modeling approach and different data products results in characteristic carbon trajectories for Net Ecosystem Productivity (NEP), Net Primary Productivity (NPP) and heterotrophic respiration associated with insect outbreaks. This study demonstrates that bark beetle events change landscapes from a sink to source of carbon at a local scale but at a larger regional level the influence of bark beetle outbreaks are not prominent compared to other disturbance agents.

Effective climate change engagement on public lands is characterized by (1) an enduring science-management partnership, (2) involvement of key stakeholders, (3) consideration of broad landscapes with multiple landowners, (4) science-based, peer-reviewed assessments of sensitivity of natural resources to climate change, (5) adaptation strategies and tactics developed by resource managers, (6) leadership and a workforce motivated to implement climate-smart practices in resource planning and project management. Using this approach, the U.S. Forest Service, in partnership with other organizations, has developed climate change vulnerability assessments and adaptation plans for diverse ecosystems and multiple resources in national forests and other lands in the western UnitedStates, although implementation (step 6) has been slow in some cases. Hundreds of meetings, strategies, plans, and panels have focused on climate change adaptation over the past decade, but only direct engagement between scientists and resource managers (less research, less planning, more action) has resulted in substantive outcomes and increased organizational capacity for climate-smart management.

Among terrestrial environments, forests are not only the largest long-term sink of atmospheric carbon (C), but are also susceptible to global change themselves, with potential consequences including alterations of C cycles and potential C emission. To inform global change risk assessment of forest C across large spatial/temporal scales, this study constructed and evaluated a basic risk framework which combined the magnitude of C stocks and their associated probability of stock change in the context of global change across the US. For the purposes of this analysis, forest C was divided into five pools, two live (aboveground and belowground biomass) and three dead (dead wood, soil organic matter, and forest floor) with a risk framework parameterized using the US's national greenhouse gas inventory and associated forest inventory data across current and projected future Köppen-Geiger climate zones (A1F1 scenario). Results suggest that an initial forest C risk matrix may be constructed to focus attention on short- and long-term risks to forest C stocks (as opposed to implementation in decision making) using inventory-based estimates of total stocks and associated estimates of variability (i.e., coefficient of variation) among climate zones. The empirical parameterization of such a risk matrix highlighted numerous knowledge gaps: 1) robust measures of the likelihood of forest C stock change under climate change scenarios, 2) projections of forest C stocks given unforeseen socioeconomic conditions (i.e., land-use change), and 3) appropriate social responses to global change events for which there is no contemporary climate/disturbance analog (e.g., severe droughts in the Lake States). Coupling these current technical/social limits of developing a risk matrix to the biological processes of forest ecosystems (i.e., disturbance events and interaction among diverse forest C pools, potential positive feedbacks, and forest resiliency/recovery) suggests an operational forest C

Full Text Available Among terrestrial environments, forests are not only the largest long-term sink of atmospheric carbon (C, but are also susceptible to global change themselves, with potential consequences including alterations of C cycles and potential C emission. To inform global change risk assessment of forest C across large spatial/temporal scales, this study constructed and evaluated a basic risk framework which combined the magnitude of C stocks and their associated probability of stock change in the context of global change across the US. For the purposes of this analysis, forest C was divided into five pools, two live (aboveground and belowground biomass and three dead (dead wood, soil organic matter, and forest floor with a risk framework parameterized using the US's national greenhouse gas inventory and associated forest inventory data across current and projected future Köppen-Geiger climate zones (A1F1 scenario. Results suggest that an initial forest C risk matrix may be constructed to focus attention on short- and long-term risks to forest C stocks (as opposed to implementation in decision making using inventory-based estimates of total stocks and associated estimates of variability (i.e., coefficient of variation among climate zones. The empirical parameterization of such a risk matrix highlighted numerous knowledge gaps: 1 robust measures of the likelihood of forest C stock change under climate change scenarios, 2 projections of forest C stocks given unforeseen socioeconomic conditions (i.e., land-use change, and 3 appropriate social responses to global change events for which there is no contemporary climate/disturbance analog (e.g., severe droughts in the Lake States. Coupling these current technical/social limits of developing a risk matrix to the biological processes of forest ecosystems (i.e., disturbance events and interaction among diverse forest C pools, potential positive feedbacks, and forest resiliency/recovery suggests an operational

Widespread drought-induced forest mortality has been documented across the globe in the last few decades and influences land-atmosphere interactions, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and biophysical and biogeochemical feedbacks to climate change. These rapid mortality events are currently not well-captured in current vegetation models, limiting the ability to predict them. While many studies have focused on the plant physiological mechanisms that mediate vegetation mortality, the characteristics of drought seasonality, sequence, severity and duration that drive mortality events have received much less attention. These characteristics are particularly relevant in light of changing precipitation regimes, changes to snowpack and snowmelt, and increasing temperature stress associated with climate change. We examine the characteristics of drought associated with the recent widespread mortality of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) across much of the western UnitedStates. We combine a regional model of watershed-level aspen mortality with in situ tissue isotopic analysis of water source to analyze the roles of drought seasonality, severity, and duration in this mortality event, including raw climate variables, derived drought indices, and variables generated by a climate envelope approach. We found that variables pertaining to spring temperatures and spring-summer water deficit, especially during the peak severity of drought, best capture regional mortality patterns, though multi-year drought variables did improve the model. Field water isotopic analysis of aspen water source over a growing season and during moderate seasonal water stress corroborate the regional model by indicating that aspen clones generally utilize surface water with little plasticity during drought stress. These results suggest that drought characteristics can play an important role in mediating widespread forest mortality and have implications for the future vulnerability of trembling aspen

A wide range of spatial forest disturbance data exist for the conterminous UnitedStates, yet inconsistencies between map products arise because of differing programmatic objectives and methodologies. Researchers on the Land Change Research Project (LCRP) are working to assess spatial agreement, characterize uncertainties, and resolve discrepancies between these national level datasets, in regard to forest disturbance. Disturbance maps from the Global Forest Change (GFC), Landfire Vegetation Disturbance (LVD), National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD), Vegetation Change Tracker (VCT), Web-enabled Landsat Data (WELD), and Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) were harmonized using a pixel-based data fusion process. The harmonization process reconciled forest harvesting, forest fire, and remaining forest disturbance across four intervals (1986-1992, 1992-2001, 2001-2006, and 2006-2011) by relying on convergence of evidence across all datasets available for each interval. Pixels with high agreement across datasets were retained, while moderate-to-low agreement pixels were visually assessed and either manually edited using reference imagery or discarded from the final disturbance map(s). National results show that annual rates of forest harvest and overall fire have increased over the past 25 years. Overall, this study shows that leveraging the best elements of readily-available data improves forest loss monitoring relative to using a single dataset to monitor forest change, particularly by reducing commission errors.

Forest tree mortality plays an important role in the global carbon budget through so-called 'background' mortality rates and larger, less frequent mortality events. The actual mortality turnover rates of forest biomass are not well understood and can vary with forest type, stand characteristics, and environmental conditions. Different agents, such as fire, insects, disease, and weather, operate on different time scales and have different effects on ecosystems. These differences make it difficult, but important, to determine a continuum of return frequencies for agent-specific mortality, especially when making projections of forest carbon balance. Some regional and global ecosystem models include a separate fire component to account for burn emissions, but events such as hurricanes can also influence carbon dynamics and are not simulated. Thus, the effects of potential changes in hurricane frequency and intensity over time would not be captured by existing models. Furthermore, many regional and global ecosystem models assume a single, non-fire mortality rate for all forests, which likely introduces bias to projections of forest carbon balance. Using the UnitedStatesForest Service (USFS) Forest Inventory Analysis DataBase (FIADB) we estimated historic (~1970 - 2010) mortality rates for Eastern UnitedStatesforests. We present spatially-explicit estimates of total mortality and of agent-specific mortality due to insects, disease, fire, weather, and harvest. These estimates show that uniform mortality rates in ecosystem models might be improved if varied spatially. The relative contribution of weather-induced mortality indicates that it results from smaller, more frequent events in addition to the effects of more extreme events such as hurricanes. Evidence of relatively high, hurricane-induced mortality suggests that the effects of extreme weather events should be explicitly modeled.

Natural resource managers need concrete ways to adapt to the effects of climate change. Science-management partnerships have proven to be an effective means of facilitating climate change adaptation for natural resource management agencies. Here we describe the process and results of several science-management partnerships in different forested regions of the United...

Contemporary land-use pressures have a significant impact on the extent and condition of forests in the eastern UnitedStates, causing a regional-scale decline in forest cover. Earlier in the 20th century, land cover was on a trajectory of forest expansion that followed agricultural abandonment. However, the potential for forest regeneration has slowed, and the extent of regional forest cover has declined by more than 4.0%. Using remote-sensing data, statistical sampling, and change-detection methods, this research shows how land conversion varies spatially and temporally across the East from 19732000, and how those changes affect regional land-change dynamics. The analysis shows that agricultural land use has continued to decline, and that this enables forest recovery; however, an important land-cover transition has occurred, from a mode of regional forest-cover gain to one of forest-cover loss caused by timber cutting cycles, urbanization, and other land-use demands. ?? 2010 by American Institute of Biological Sciences. All rights reserved.

Full Text Available Changes in the distribution and abundance of mangrove species within and outside of their historic geographic range can have profound consequences in the provision of ecosystem goods and services they provide. Mangroves in the conterminous UnitedStates (CONUS are believed to be expanding poleward (north due to decreases in the frequency and severity of extreme cold events, while sea level rise is a factor often implicated in the landward expansion of mangroves locally. We used ~35 years of satellite imagery and in situ observations for CONUS and report that: (i poleward expansion of mangrove forest is inconclusive, and may have stalled for now, and (ii landward expansion is actively occurring within the historical northernmost limit. We revealed that the northernmost latitudinal limit of mangrove forests along the east and west coasts of Florida, in addition to Louisiana and Texas has not systematically expanded toward the pole. Mangrove area, however, expanded by 4.3% from 1980 to 2015 within the historic northernmost boundary, with the highest percentage of change in Texas and southern Florida. Several confounding factors such as sea level rise, absence or presence of sub-freezing temperatures, land use change, impoundment/dredging, changing hydrology, fire, storm, sedimentation and erosion, and mangrove planting are responsible for the change. Besides, sea level rise, relatively milder winters and the absence of sub-freezing temperatures in recent decades may be enabling the expansion locally. The results highlight the complex set of forcings acting on the northerly extent of mangroves and emphasize the need for long-term monitoring as this system increases in importance as a means to adapt to rising oceans and mitigate the effects of increased atmospheric CO2.

This presentation discusses contributions of near real time (NRT) MODIS forest disturbance detection products for the conterminous UnitedStates to an emerging national forest threat early warning system (EWS). The latter is being developed by the USDA Forest Service s Eastern and Western Environmental Threat Centers with help from NASA Stennis Space Center and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Building off work done in 2009, this national and regional forest disturbance detection and viewing capability of the EWS employs NRT MODIS NDVI data from the USGS eMODIS group and historical NDVI data from standard MOD13 products. Disturbance detection products are being computed for 24 day composites that are refreshed every 8 days. Products for 2010 include 42 dates of the 24 day composites. For each compositing date, we computed % change in forest maximum NDVI products for 2010 with respect to each of three historical baselines of 2009, 2007-2009, and 2003-2009,. The three baselines enable one to view potential current, recent, and longer term forest disturbances. A rainbow color table was applied to each forest change product so that potential disturbances (NDVI drops) were identified in hot color tones and growth (NDVI gains) in cold color tones. Example products were provided to end-users responsible for forest health monitoring at the Federal and State levels. Large patches of potential forest disturbances were validated based on comparisons with available reference data, including Landsat and field survey data. Products were posted on two internet mapping systems for US Forest Service internal and collaborator use. MODIS forest disturbance detection products were computed and posted for use in as little as 1 day after the last input date of the compositing period. Such products were useful for aiding aerial disturbance detection surveys and for assessing disturbance persistence on both inter- and intra-annual scales. Multiple 2010 forest disturbance events were

Whether the forest industries in the southern UnitedStates are net emitters or sequesters of carbon from the atmosphere depends on one`s viewpoint. In the short-term, the solid-wood industries-lumber, plywood, and panels--appear to sequester more carbon than is in the fossil fuels they use for processing. The paper industries, however, emit more carbon from fossil fuels than they sequester in the pulp and paper they manufacture. This viewpoint is quite limited. If one considers the life-cycles of solid-wood and paper products from seedlings to landfill, these industries sequester more carbon than they emit from burning fossil fuels. These industries also generate large amounts of energy by replacing fossil fuels with biofuels from processing residues, and wood-based products produce more energy from incineration and landfill gases. Use of the carbon in these biofuels in effect keeps fossil fuel carbon in the ground, considering that at least that amount of carbon would be emitted in producing alternative materials. Another way of looking the emission balances is that wood-based materials, pound for pound or use for use, are the most {open_quotes}carbon efficient{close_quotes} group of major industrial materials. 5 refs., 12 figs.

Non-timber forest products in the UnitedStates include floral greens, Christmas ornamentals, wild edibles, medicinals, crafts, and transplants. Non-timber forest products are important to many people for many reasons. People harvest products from forests for personal use, cultural practices, and sale. The tremendous variety of species harvested for the many markets...

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are one of many economic benefits that forests provide to society, and understanding their value helps us understand the total economic value of forests. In the early 1990s, economic research on NTFPs in the UnitedStates increased, in the Pacific Northwest and oth...

US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture — A map service on the www depicting geopolitical data for the entire area of the UnitedStates and territories. This includes States, Counties or Boroughs,...

Avian biodiversity may be at risk in eastern parks and forests due to continued expansion of the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae), an exotic homopteran insect native to East Asia. To assess avian biodiversity, mesohabitat relations, and the risk of species loss with declining hemlock forests in Appalachian park lands, 80 randomly distributed fixed-radius plots were established in which territories of breeding birds were estimated on four forest-terrain types (hemlock and hardwood benches and ravines) in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Both species richness and number of territories were higher in hardwood than hemlock forest types and in bench than ravine terrain types. Four insectivorous species, Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens), blue-headed vireo (Vireo solitarius), black-throated green warbler (Dendroica virens), and Blackburnian warbler (Dendroica fusca), showed high affinity for hemlock forest type and exhibited significantly greater numbers of territories in hemlock than hardwood sites. These species are hemlock-associated species at risk from continued hemlock decline in the Delaware River valley and similar forests of the mid-Atlantic east slope. Two of these species, the blue-headed vireo and Blackburnian warbler, appeared to specialize on ravine mesohabitats of hemlock stands, the vireo a low-to-mid canopy species, the warbler a mid-to-upper canopy forager. Unchecked expansion of the exotic adelgid and subsequent hemlock decline could negatively impact 3,600 pairs from the park and several million pairs from northeastern UnitedStates hemlock forests due to elimination of preferred habitat.

Full Text Available Abstract Background Coarse and fine woody debris are substantial forest ecosystem carbon stocks; however, there is a lack of understanding how these detrital carbon stocks vary across forested landscapes. Because forest woody detritus production and decay rates may partially depend on climatic conditions, the accumulation of coarse and fine woody debris carbon stocks in forests may be correlated with climate. This study used a nationwide inventory of coarse and fine woody debris in the UnitedStates to examine how these carbon stocks vary by climatic regions and variables. Results Mean coarse and fine woody debris forest carbon stocks vary by Köppen's climatic regions across the UnitedStates. The highest carbon stocks were found in regions with cool summers while the lowest carbon stocks were found in arid desert/steppes or temperate humid regions. Coarse and fine woody debris carbon stocks were found to be positively correlated with available moisture and negatively correlated with maximum temperature. Conclusion It was concluded with only medium confidence that coarse and fine woody debris carbon stocks may be at risk of becoming net emitter of carbon under a global climate warming scenario as increases in coarse or fine woody debris production (sinks may be more than offset by increases in forest woody detritus decay rates (emission. Given the preliminary results of this study and the rather tenuous status of coarse and fine woody debris carbon stocks as either a source or sink of CO2, further research is suggested in the areas of forest detritus decay and production.

The role of tree mortality in the global carbon balance is complicated by strong spatial and temporal heterogeneity that arises from the stochastic nature of carbon loss through disturbance. Characterizing spatio-temporal variation in mortality (including disturbance) and its effects on forest and carbon dynamics is thus essential to understanding the current global forest carbon sink, and to predicting how it will change in future. We analyzed forest inventory data from the eastern UnitedStates to estimate plot-level variation in mortality (relative to a long-term background rate for individual trees) for nine distinct forest regions. Disturbances that produced at least a fourfold increase in tree mortality over an approximately 5 year interval were observed in 1-5% of plots in each forest region. The frequency of disturbance was lowest in the northeast, and increased southwards along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts as fire and hurricane disturbances became progressively more common. Across the central and northern parts of the region, natural disturbances appeared to reflect a diffuse combination of wind, insects, disease, and ice storms. By linking estimated covariation in tree growth and mortality over time with a data-constrained forest dynamics model, we simulated the implications of stochastic variation in mortality for long-term aboveground biomass changes across the eastern UnitedStates. A geographic gradient in disturbance frequency induced notable differences in biomass dynamics between the least- and most-disturbed regions, with variation in mortality causing the latter to undergo considerably stronger fluctuations in aboveground stand biomass over time. Moreover, regional simulations showed that a given long-term increase in mean mortality rates would support greater aboveground biomass when expressed through disturbance effects compared with background mortality, particularly for early-successional species. The effects of increased tree mortality on

Forest sustainability has emerged as a crucial component of all current issues related to forest management. The seven Montreal Process Criteria are well accepted as categories of processes for evaluating forest management with respect to sustainability, and data collected.

Nitrogen export from small forested watersheds is known to be affected by N deposition but with high regional variability. We studied 10 headwater catchments in the northeastern UnitedStates across a gradient of N deposition (5.4 - 9.4 kg ha -1 yr -1) to determine if soil nitrification rates could explain differences in stream water NO 3 - export. Average annual export of two years (October 2002 through September 2004) varied from 0.1 kg NO 3 --N ha -1 yr -1 at Cone Pond watershed in New Hampshire to 5.1 kg ha -1 yr -1 at Buck Creek South in the western Adirondack Mountains of New York. Potential net nitrification rates and relative nitrification (fraction of inorganic N as NO 3 -) were measured in Oa or A soil horizons at 21-130 sampling points throughout each watershed. Stream NO 3 - export was positively related to nitrification rates (r 2 = 0.34, p = 0.04) and the relative nitrification (r 2 = 0.37, p = 0.04). These relationships were much improved by restricting consideration to the 6 watersheds with a higher number of rate measurements (59-130) taken in transects parallel to the streams (r 2 of 0.84 and 0.70 for the nitrification rate and relative nitrification, respectively). Potential nitrification rates were also a better predictor of NO 3 - export when data were limited to either the 6 sampling points closest to the watershed outlet (r 2 = 0.75) or sampling points soils on measured stream NO 3 - export. Copyright 2012 by the American Geophysical Union.

Two USDA agencies, the Forest Service (USFS) and the Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) are cooperating on the complementary conservation of crop wild relatives (CWR) native to the UnitedStates. The USFS manages 193 million acres of National Forest System lands in 43 states and provides suppo...

Information on future land-use and land-cover (LULC) change is needed to analyze the impact of LULC change on ecological processes. The U.S. Geological Survey has produced spatially explicit, thematically detailed LULC projections for the conterminous UnitedStates. Four qualitative and quantitative scenarios of LULC change were developed, with characteristics consistent with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES). The four quantified scenarios (A1B, A2, B1, and B2) served as input to the forecasting scenarios of land-use change (FORE-SCE) model. Four spatially explicit data sets consistent with scenario storylines were produced for the conterminous UnitedStates, with annual LULC maps from 1992 through 2100. The future projections are characterized by a loss of natural land covers in most scenarios, with corresponding expansion of anthropogenic land uses. Along with the loss of natural land covers, remaining natural land covers experience increased fragmentation under most scenarios, with only the B2 scenario remaining relatively stable in both the proportion of remaining natural land covers and basic fragmentation measures. Forest stand age was also modeled. By 2100, scenarios and ecoregions with heavy forest cutting had relatively lower mean stand ages compared to those with less forest cutting. Stand ages differed substantially between unprotected and protected forest lands, as well as between different forest classes. The modeled data were compared to the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and other data sources to assess model characteristics. The consistent, spatially explicit, and thematically detailed LULC projections and the associated forest stand-age data layers have been used to analyze LULC impacts on carbon and greenhouse gas fluxes, biodiversity, climate and weather variability, hydrologic change, and other ecological processes.

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This map layer is a grid map of the conterminous UnitedStates, created from National Land Cover Data (NLCD). The NLCD data was reclassified into four categories:...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This map layer is a grid map of the conterminous UnitedStates, created from National Land Cover Data (NLCD). The NLCD data was reclassified into four categories:...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This map layer is a grid map of the conterminous UnitedStates, created from National Land Cover Data (NLCD). The NLCD data was reclassified into four categories:...

Focus groups were used to identify opportunities, barriers, and strategies for increased utilization of forest biomass in the Southern UnitedStates. The groups were based on the seven critical components in the bioenergy and bio-based products value chain, as identified by the International Energy Agency (IEA) Bioenergy Task 31 ''Biomass Production for Energy from Sustainable Forestry.'' These components include sustainable biomass production, sustainable forest operations, product delivery logistics, manufacturing and energy production, environmental sustainability, consumer demand, and rural economic development. Participants included handpicked experts from each of the seven component areas. Six common themes emerged from the focus groups. Market creation, infrastructure development, community engagement, incentives, collaboration, and education will all be critical to the successful development of the biomass industry. The forest industry, the energy industry, academia, extension personnel, and rural communities should collaborate together to support research, policy issues, and educational programs that enhance the efficiency of current forest biomass operations and promote the use of forest biomass for bioenergy. (author)

EuroAmerican land use and its legacies have transformed forest structure and composition across the UnitedStates (US). More accurate reconstructions of historical states are critical to understanding the processes governing past, current, and future forest dynamics. Gridded (8x8km) estimates of pre-settlement (1800s) forests from the upper Midwestern US (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and most of Michigan) using 19th Century Public Land Survey (PLS) records provide relative composition, biomass, stem density, and basal area for 26 tree genera. This mapping is more robust than past efforts, using spatially varying correction factors to accommodate sampling design, azimuthal censoring, and biases in tree selection. We compare pre-settlement to modern forests using Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data, with respect to structural changes and the prevalence of lost forests, pre-settlement forests with no current analogue, and novel forests, modern forests with no past analogs. Differences between PLSS and FIA forests are spatially structured as a result of differences in the underlying ecology and land use impacts in the Upper Midwestern UnitedStates. Modern biomass is higher than pre-settlement biomass in the northwest (Minnesota and north-eastern Wisconsin, including regions that were historically open savanna), and lower in the east (eastern Wisconsin and Michigan), due to shifts in species composition and, presumably, average stand age. Modern forests are more homogeneous, and ecotonal gradients are more diffuse today than in the past. Novel forest assemblages represent 29% of all FIA cells, while 25% of pre-settlement forests no longer exist in a modern context. Lost forests are centered around the forests of the Tension Zone, particularly in hemlock dominated forests of north-central Wisconsin, and in oak-elm-basswood forests along the forest-prairie boundary in south central Minnesota and eastern Wisconsin. Novel FIA forest assemblages are distributed evenly across

Seasonal forest pools (SFPs) are geographically- and hydrologically- isolated ponded wetlands, in that they are topographically isolated from other surface waters. SFPs occur commonly throughout the temperate forests of the eastern UnitedStates and adjacent Canada. SFPs are ephemeral in occurrence, typically drying annually. The regular drying of SFPs excludes fish...

The transaction cost approach is used to explain why small non-industrial private forest (NIPF) ownerships are increasing in the U.S. We argue that the number of small NIPF owners have increased because: 1) a significant amount of forestland is no longer used economically if primarily for timber production, but rather for non-timber forest products and environmental...

The UnitedStates Climate Change initiative includes improvements to the U.S. Department of Energy's Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. The program includes specific accounting rules and guidelines for reporting and registering forestry activities that reduce atmospheric CO2 by increasing carbon sequestration or reducing emissions....

Refined estimation of carbon (C) stocks within forest ecosystems is a critical component of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of projected climate change through forest C management. Specifically, belowground C stocks are currently estimated in the UnitedStates' national greenhouse gas inventory (US NGHGI) using nationally consistent species- and diameter-specific equations applied to individual trees. Recent scientific evidence has pointed to the importance of climate as a driver of belowground C stocks. This study estimates belowground C using current methods applied in the US NGHGI and describes a new approach for merging both allometric models with climate-derived predictions of belowground C stocks. Climate-adjusted predictions were variable depending on the region and forest type of interest, but represented an increase of 368.87 Tg of belowground C across the US, or a 6.4 % increase when compared to currently-implemented NGHGI estimates. Random forests regressions indicated that aboveground biomass, stand age, and stand origin (i.e., planted versus artificial regeneration) were useful predictors of belowground C stocks. Decreases in belowground C stocks were modeled after projecting mean annual temperatures at various locations throughout the US up to year 2090. By combining allometric equations with trends in temperature, we conclude that climate variables can be used to adjust the US NGHGI estimates of belowground C stocks. Such strategies can be used to determine the effects of future global change scenarios within a C accounting framework.

Remote sensing has been widely used for mapping and characterizing changes in forest cover, but the available remote sensing forest change products are not discriminating between deforestation (permanent transition from forest to non forest) and industrial forest management (logging followed by regrowth, with no land cover/ land use class change) (Hansen et al, 2010). Current estimates of carbon-equivalent emissions report the contribution of deforestation as 12% of total anthropogenic carbon emissions (van der Werf et al., 2009), but accurate monitoring of forest carbon balance should discriminate between land use change related to forest natural disturbances, and forest management. The total change in forest cover (Gross Forest Cover Loss, GFLC) needs to be characterized based on the cause (natural/human) and on the outcome of the change (regeneration to forest/transition to non/forest)(Kurtz et al, 2010). This paper presents the methodology used to classify the forest loss detected by the University of Maryland Global Forest Change product (Hansen, 2013) into deforestation, disturbances (fires, insect outbreaks) and industrial forest clearcuts. The industrial forest clearcuts were subsequently analysed by converting the pixel based detections into objects, and applying patch level metrics (e.g. size, compactness, straightness of boundaries) and contextual measures. The analysis is stratified by region and by dominant forest specie, to highlight changes in the rate of forest resource utilization in the 2003-2013 period covered by the Maryland Forest Cover Change Product. References Hansen, M.C., Stehman, S.V., & Potapov, P.V. (2010). Reply to Wernick et al.: Global scale quantification of forest change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, E148-E148 Hansen, M.C., Potapov, P.V., Moore, R et al., (2013), "High resolution Global Maps for the 21stCentury Forest Cover Change", Science 342: 850-853 Kurz, W.A. (2010). An ecosystem context for global

In mid-2001, the Southern Research Station (SRS) and the Southern Regional Office (R8) of the U.S. Forest Service worked through a 3-day facilitated discussion to develop a strategy to guide research and technology transfer on non-timber forest products (NTFPs). In all, more than 14 specialists took part in developing the strategy, representing the Forest Service...

There are varying definitions of old-growth forests because of differences in environment and differing fire influence across the Intermountain West. Two general types of forests reflect the role of fire: 1) forests shaped by natural changes in structure and species makeup-plant succession-that are driven by competitive differences among species and individual trees...

Extreme weather events play a role in shaping the composition and structure of forests. Responding to and mitigating a storm event in a forested environment requires information about the location and severity of tree damage. However, this information can be difficult to obtain immediately following an event. Post-storm assessments using regularly collected forest...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are toxic environmental pollutants originating from the incomplete combustion of organic material, both from natural or anthropogenic sources. Once emitted, they can be transported across thousands of kilometers impacting remote environments. Here, we characterize the distribution of 23 PAHs and 9 oxygenated PAHs (Σ32PAH) in litter and soils in four remote forests in the UnitedStates. Concentrations of Σ32PAH in fresh surface litter (Oi layers) showed very low levels in three of the four forests (mixed coniferous forest in Maine, deciduous blue oak forest in California, and a coniferous forest in Washington State), with PAHs levels much lower than those reported in previous studies from Europe. The analysis showed that PAHs represented a mix of regional background sources. Highest PAH levels were observed in a coniferous forest floor in Florida, attributable to frequent prescribed burning of understory vegetation at this site, and supported by high contributions of retene (>7%; compared to <1% at other sites). Σ32PAH increased in deeper, more decomposed organic litter layers, increasing from 57±19 ng g-1 (in Oi layer) to 511± 285 ng g-1 in decomposed, humidified litter layers (Oe and Oa horizons). In mineral soils, Σ32PAH were over an order of magnitude lower (average 37±8 ng g-1), which was attributed to higher bulk densities of mineral soils. However, standardized per unit of organic carbon (OC), Σ32PAH:OC ratios in mineral soils also were below levels observed in overlying litter, indicating a strong sorption capacity of organic horizons for atmospheric deposition. Within mineral soils, Σ32PAH:OC ratios increased with depth (Ah horizons: 750±198 ng g-1; B horizons: 1,202±97 ng g-1), indicating that vertical transfer in mineral soils leads to significant accumulation of PAH in subsoils. ΣPAH:OC increases observed in deeper soil layers may be attributed to slower mineralization rates of PAHs compared to OC, plus

In the global campaign against biodiversity loss in forest ecosystems, land managers need to know the status of forest biodiversity, but practical guidelines for conserving biodiversity in forest management are lacking. A major obstacle is the incomplete understanding of the relationship between site primary productivity and plant diversity, due to insufficient ecosystem-wide data, especially for taxonomically and structurally diverse forest ecosystems. We investigated the effects of site productivity (the site's inherent capacity to grow timber) on tree species richness across 19 types of forest ecosystems in North America and China through 3 ground-sourced forest inventory data sets (U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis, Cooperative Alaska Forest Inventory, and Chinese Forest Management Planning Inventory). All forest types conformed to a consistent and highly significant (P biodiversity relationship among the 3 data sets we examined makes it possible to quantify the expected tree species richness that a forest stand is capable of sustaining, and a comparison between the actual species richness and the sustainable values can be useful in prioritizing conservation efforts.

Evidence of shifting dominance among major forest disturbance agent classes regionally to globally has been emerging in the literature. For example, climate-related stress and secondary stressors on forests (e.g., insect and disease, fire) have dramatically increased since the turn of the century globally, while harvest rates in the western US and elsewhere have declined. For shifts to be quantified, accurate historical forest disturbance estimates are required as a baseline for examining current trends. We report annual disturbance rates (with uncertainties) in the aggregate and by major change causal agent class for the conterminous US and five geographic subregions between 1985 and 2012. Results are based on human interpretations of Landsat time series from a probability sample of 7200 plots (30 m) distributed throughout the study area. Forest disturbance information was recorded with a Landsat time series visualization and data collection tool that incorporates ancillary high-resolution data. National rates of disturbance varied between 1.5% and 4.5% of forest area per year, with trends being strongly affected by shifting dominance among specific disturbance agent influences at the regional scale. Throughout the time series, national harvest disturbance rates varied between one and two percent, and were largely a function of harvest in the more heavily forested regions of the US (Mountain West, Northeast, and Southeast). During the first part of the time series, national disturbance rates largely reflected trends in harvest disturbance. Beginning in the mid-90s, forest decline-related disturbances associated with diminishing forest health (e.g., physiological stress leading to tree canopy cover loss, increases in tree mortality above background levels), especially in the Mountain West and Lowland West regions of the US, increased dramatically. Consequently, national disturbance rates greatly increased by 2000, and remained high for much of the decade. Decline

Forests cover 30% of the terrestrial Earth surface and are a major component of the global carbon (C) cycle. Humans have doubled the amount of global reactive nitrogen (N), increasing deposition of N onto forests worldwide. However, other global changes—especially climate change and elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations—are increasing demand for N, the element limiting primary productivity in temperate forests, which could be reducing N availability. To determine the long-term, integrated effects of global changes on forest N cycling, we measured stable N isotopes in wood, a proxy for N supply relative to demand, on large spatial and temporal scales across the continental U.S.A. Here, we show that forest N availability has generally declined across much of the U.S. since at least 1850 C.E. with cool, wet forests demonstrating the greatest declines. Across sites, recent trajectories of N availability were independent of recent atmospheric N deposition rates, implying a minor role for modern N deposition on the trajectory of N status of North American forests. Our results demonstrate that current trends of global changes are likely to be consistent with forest oligotrophication into the foreseeable future, further constraining forest C fixation and potentially storage.

Full Text Available There are varying definitions of old-growth forests because of differences in environment and differing fire influence across the Intermountain West. Two general types of forests reflect the role of fire: 1 forests shaped by natural changes in structure and species makeup - plant succession - that are driven by competitive differences among species and individual trees and by small-scale disturbances, and 2 forests where plant succession processes are disrupted by major biological disturbances (fire, insects, wind, or drought extending across larger areas. Some case examples of old-growth forests where fire was historically frequent are used. The examples sketch out the typical biophysical settings, fire regime, natural disturbance factors, spatial features of patches, and the processes and conditions that produce spatial changes of the landscape over time. These examples confirm the complexity of describing or defining old growth in frequent-fire forests. We define fire-adapted forests at three spatial scales, whereas the standard definition of old growth refers to a patch or stand condition. Our definition is based on ecological principles rather than on the cultural aspects of old growth. It focuses on central tendencies, given all the possible combinations of conditions and processes, that move forests toward old growth in the fire-adapted forests of the Intermountain West.

Full Text Available In this study, we assessed the impacts of climate change, forest management, and different forest productivity conditions on the water yield and profitability of loblolly pine stands in the southeastern UnitedStates. Using the 3-PG (Physiological Processes Predicting Growth model, we determined different climatic projections and then employed a stand level economic model that incorporates, for example, prices for timber and increased water yield. We found that, under changing climatic conditions, water yield increases with thinnings and low levels of tree planting density. On average, under moderate climatic conditions, water yield increases by 584 kL·ha−1 and 97 kL·ha−1 for low and high productivity conditions, respectively. Under extreme climatic conditions, water yield increases by 100 kL·ha−1 for low productivity conditions. Land expectation values increase by 96% ($6653.7 ha−1 and 95% ($6424.1 ha−1 for each climatic scenario compared to those obtained for unthinned loblolly pine plantations managed only for timber production and under current climatic conditions. The contributions of payments for increased water yield to the land values were 38% ($2530.1 ha−1 and 30% ($1894.8 ha−1. Results suggest that payments for water yield may be a “win-win” strategy to sustainably improve water supply and the economic conditions of forest ownership in the region.

Non-timber forest products [NTFPs] originate from plants and fungi that are harvested from natural, manipulated or disturbed forests. NTFPs may include fungi, moss, lichen, herbs, vines, shrubs, or trees. People harvest the products for many reasons, including personal, recreational and spiritual uses, as well as commercial gain. The assessment of volumes and values is...

Among terrestrial environments, forests are not only the largest long-term sink of atmospheric carbon (C), but are also susceptible to global change themselves, with potential consequences including alterations of C cycles and potential C emission. To inform global change risk assessment of forest C across large spatial/temporal scales, this study constructed and...

Many engineers and hydrologists use the curve number method to estimate runoff from ungaged watersheds; however, the method does not explicitly account for the influence of season or forest cutting on runoff. This study of observed rainfall and runoff for small, forested watershe...

Forest-based production on U.S. farms totaled $653.2 million in 2012, admittedly a small portion of total farm wealth. However, despite the effects of the recent economic downturn, on-farm forest product revenues still approached the gate value of North Carolina timber in 2012, which was $730.6 million. Providing the research-based information,…

Sequestration of carbon (C) in forests has the potential to mitigate the effects of climate change by offsetting future emissions of greenhouse gases. However, in dry temperate forests, wildfire is a natural disturbance agent with the potential to release large fluxes of C into the atmosphere. Climate-driven increases in wildfire extent and severity arc expected to...

Timber harvesting operations generate brush and other vegetative debris, which often has no marketable value. In many western U.S. forests, these materials represent a fire hazard and a potential threat to forest health and must be removed or burned for disposal. Currently, there is no established, consistent method to estimate brush disposal production rates in the U....

Information about forest resources grouped by ecologically homogeneous area can be used to discern relationships between those resources and ecological processes. The author used forest resource data from 0.4-ha plots, and data on population and land area (by county), together with a global-to-local hierarchical framework of land areas with similar ecological potential...

Forest biomass thinnings, to promote forest health or for energy production, can potentially impact the soil resource by altering soil physical, chemical, and/or biological properties. The extent and degree of impacts within a harvest unit or across a watershed will subsequently determine if site or soil productivity is affected. Although the impacts of stand removal...

US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture — A map service on the www depicting National Forest Service land units. An NFS Land Unit is nationally significant classification of Federally owned forest, range,...

Full Text Available Old growth in the frequent-fire conifer forests of the western UnitedStates, such as those containing ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa, Jeffrey pine (P. jeffreyi, giant sequoia (Sequioa giganteum and other species, has undergone major changes since Euro-American settlement. Understanding past changes and anticipating future changes under different potential management scenarios are fundamental to developing ecologically based fuel reduction or ecological restoration treatments. Some of the many changes that have occurred in these forests include shifts from historically frequent surface fire to no fire or to stand-replacing fire regimes, increases in tree density, increased abundance of fire-intolerant trees, decreases in understory productivity, hydrological alterations, and accelerated mortality of old trees. Although these changes are widespread, the magnitude and causes of changes may vary within and among landscapes. Agents of change, such as fire exclusion or livestock grazing, likely interacted and had multiple effects. For example, historical ranching operations may have altered both fire regimes and understory vegetation, and facilitated institutional fire exclusion through fragmentation and settlement. Evidence exists for large variation in presettlement characteristics and current condition of old growth across this broad forest region, although there are many examples of striking similarities on widely distant landscapes. Exotic species, climate change, unnatural stand-replacing wildfires, and other factors will likely continue to degrade or eradicate old growth in many areas. As a policy of fire exclusion is proving to be unsustainable, mechanical tree thinning, prescribed fire, or wildland fire use will likely be key options for forestalling continued eradication of old growth by severe crown fires. For many practical and societal reasons, the wildland-urban interface may afford some of the most immediate opportunities for re

US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture — A map service on the www that includes polygons with a minimum of 40 acres of woodlands per square mile as depicted in William H. Brewer’s 1873 map of woodland...

Full Text Available This paper presents and discusses an integrated set of policies designed to reduce U.S. carbon emissions over the next four decades. This innovation path also aims to promote environmental quality, particularly by reducing emissions of criteria air pollutants, to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil, and to induce technological innovation and diffusion in energy production and consumption. The innovation path would reduce economy-wide carbon emissions by 26% below baseline projections for 2010 and by 62% below baseline projections for 2030; this translates into 10% below 1990 levels in 2010 and 45% below 1990 levels in 2030. Emissions of criteria pollutants also would be significantly reduced, as would petroleum imports by the UnitedStates. Moreover, the innovation path would yield cumulative net savings for the UnitedStates of $218 billion (1993 dollars through 2010, or $19 billion on a leveled annual basis, and would result in 800,000 additional jobs nationwide by 2010. Although the overall findings from the innovation path analysis are robust, the results should be taken as indicative, rather than precisely predictive, owing to uncertainties in future costs, prices, technology performance, and consumer behavior.

Terrestrial ecosystems play an important role in Earth systems processes, yet we still do not understand how they respond to changes in climate. While it has been argued that terrestrial ecosystems were fairly stable (by Quaternary standards) in the millennia before major anthropogenic disruption, others have emphasized vegetation response to environmental variability during this time. These competing perspectives are not necessarily in conflict, but argue for a quantitative assessment of forest ecosystem variability over the last several millennia. Here we reconstruct maps of forest composition for the last two millenia, with uncertainty. To do this, we use a network of fossil pollen records - the most reliable paleoecological proxy for forest composition. We link the fossil pollen records to public land survey forest composition using a Bayesian hierarchical model which accounts for key processes including pollen production and dispersal. The model is calibrated using data from the pre-settlement time with the hope of minimizing anthropogenic impacts. Process parameters are estimated in the calibration phase, and are subsequently used in the prediction phase to generate spatially explicit maps of relative species composition across the upper Midwestern US over the last 2000 years, with robust uncertainty estimates. Estimates of forest composition and uncertainty show many previously noted vegetation shifts, three of which we discuss here. First, we see expansion of the hemlock range into western Wisconsin. Second, we see changes along the prairie-forest ecotone. Third, we see significant increases in elm at approximately 500 YBP in the region known as the Minnesota Big Woods. These changes are significant in both a statistical and ecological sense, but the scale of these changes is small relative to changes in the early holocene. Our novel spatio-temporal composition estimates will be used to improve the forecasting capabilities of ecosystem models.

Rapid urbanization, industry, and agriculture have put enormous developmental pressure on coastal forested wetlands along the Texas coast. At least 97,000 acres of freshwater forested wetlands on the Texas coast have been lost since 1955, amid much larger losses of other coastal wetland types (TPWD-Texas Wetlands Conservation Plan, 1996). Some coastal wetlands are protected by federal regulations under the Clean Water Act in an effort to maintain wetland hydrological and ecological services, such as water quality improvement and flood control. However, federal protection of many important coastal wetlands is dependent upon documented proof of a hydrologic connection to federally protected Waters of the UnitedStates and reasonable influence on the quality of those waters. This study focuses on a 13 acre catchment of coastal flatwoods wetland with an ambiguous legal status because of a possible , but undocumented, hydrologic connection to regulated Waters of the UnitedStates. Documentation of the hydrologic connectivity of this type of wetland is critical because of the geographic extent of similar wetlands and their contributions to water quality. The objective of the study was to determine if a hydrologic connection exists, and if so, to quantify the strength of the connection. A surface connection was established based on runoff and rainfall data collected since April of 2005, with the wetland discharging surface water directly into an adjacent protected wetland. The connection was weak during dry years, but in years with average rainfall, surface runoff accounted for a much more significant portion of the water budget. These results suggest that runoff water from similar wetlands contributes directly to protected wetland waters, and may influence water quality downstream.

This paper examines the effects of projected future climate change scenarios on biodiversity in forests of the southern US. Global climate change will probably influence biodiversity of southern forests as it was affected during periods in the past, with added problems caused by high human population density, development, air pollution, and rising sea levels. Although the increased level of CO[sub 2] could have beneficial effects on plants, climate change could cause serious changes to many ecological systems, for example inducing plants to bloom before their pollinators are available, and could precipitate modifications that few scientists have considered. Certainly many ecological systems will be seriously altered by climate change. Large northward shifts in species' ranges are expected, causing communities and ecosystems to change in composition. Loss of or movement of a dominant tree species may influence many other plant and animal species in the southern forest, bringing about large increases in the numbers of threatened and endangered species, as well as extinctions. Predictions about the effects of global climate change to southern forests and suggestions for detecting and preparing for them are included.

Large differences in soil pH and available Ca in the surface soil exist among tree species growing in a mixed hardwood forest in northwestern Connecticut. The observed association between tree species and specific soil chemical properties within mixed-species stands implies that changes in

We synthesize insights from current understanding of drought impacts at stand-to-biogeographic scales, including management options, and we identify challenges to be addressed with new research. Large stand-level shifts underway in western forests already are showing the importance of interactions involving drought, insects, and fire. Diebacks, changes in composition...

Forests provide a variety of critical services to human societies, including carbon sequestration, water purification, and habitat for millions of species. Because landowners have traditionally not been paid for the services their land provides to society, financial incentives are usually too low to sustain production of services at optimal levels. To remedy this, a...

Due to burgeoning interest in the biomass/carbon attributes of forest downed and dead woody materials (DWMs) attributable to its fundamental role in the carbon cycle, stand structure/diversity, bioenergy resources, and fuel loadings, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has conducted a nationwide field-based inventory of DWM. Using the national DWM inventory, attributes...

Political and legal conflicts between the need for targeted private forest conservation and the continued assurance of private property rights in the U.S. presents a seemingly intractable resource management problem. Scandinavian use of habitat protection areas on private forests offers an additional tool that may be suitable for solving the historical and on-going tension found within U.S. efforts to reconcile desires to maintain lands in a forested condition while also respecting private property rights. This article presents a comparative cross-sectional policy analysis of Sweden, Finland, and the U.S., supported with a supplemental case example from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Similarities in all three countries among forest ownership patterns, use of public subsidies, and changing attitudes towards conservation are generally encouraging. Additionally, Virginia's current consideration and development of state-wide forest policies focused on forestland and open space conservation suggests both a need and an opportunity to systematically assess the applicability of the Nordic forest reserve approach to local private forest conservation. Future research at a high-resolution, and specifically at the state level, should focus on the social and political factors that would ultimately determine the viability of a forest reserve program.

Caddo Lake, USA, a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, is a lacustrine wetland complex consisting of stands of flooded baldcypress intermixed with open water and emergent wetland habitats. Recently, concern has been expressed over a perceived increase in the beaver population and the impact of beaver on the long-term sustainability of the baldcypress ecosystem. We used intensive beaver lodge surveys to determine the distribution and relative abundance of beaver and the amount, type, and distribution of beaver damage to mature trees and seedlings at Caddo Lake. A total of 229 lodges were located with a combination of aerial and boat/ground surveys. Most lodges were located in open water and edge habitats. About 95% of the lodges were occupied by beaver or nutria. Some form of damage was exhibited by one or more trees near 85% of the lodges. Intensive damage assessments around 35 lodges indicated that most damage to trees, baldcypress in particular, was restricted to peeling or stripping of bark which is believed to have minimal effect on tree survival. Surveys of regeneration indicated that baldcypress seedlings were very abundant; however, over 99.9% were less than 30 cm tall. The lack of recruitment into the larger size classes appears to be a result of high stand densities and water management practices. At this time, the young age and density of the baldcypress forests suggest that recruitment is not a major concern and herbivore damage appears to be having a minimal effect on the forest.

Located in 23 countries, 40 forest-products research and development organizations outside the UnitedStates were reviewed in 2004 and 2005. The intent was to obtain a better understanding of how such organizations are structured and administered and their performance judged. Investing over $600 million annually, the 40 organizations employed 7,000 to 7,500 scientists...

This case study shows the promise of computing current season forest disturbance detection products at regional to CONUS scales. Use of the eMODIS expedited product enabled a NRT CONUS forest disturbance detection product, a requirement for an eventual, operational forest threat EWS. The 2009 classification product from this study can be used to quantify the areal extent of forest disturbance across CONUS, although a quantitative accuracy assessment still needs to be completed. However, the results would not include disturbances that occurred after July 27, such as the Station Fire. While not shown here, the project also produced maximum NDVI products for the June 10-July 27 period of each year of the 2000-2009 time frame. These products could be applied to compute forest change products on an annual basis. GIS could then be used to assess disturbance persistence. Such follow-on work could lead to attribution of year in which a disturbance occurred. These products (e.g., Figures 6 and 7) may also be useful for assessing forest change associated with climate change, such as carbon losses from bark beetle-induced forest mortality in the Western UnitedStates. Other MODIS phenological products are being assessed for aiding forest monitoring needs of the EWS, including cumulative NDVI products (Figure 10).

As a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, the UnitedStates (U.S.) is required to report on the status of forest carbon stocks from the 1990 baseline year to present. The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the USDA Forest Service is responsible for compiling estimates of forest carbon stocks and stock changes as part of the Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry chapter of the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (NGHGI) report produced annually by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 1999, the FIA program made a transition from state-by-state periodic inventories largely tailored to regional requirements to nationally consistent, annual inventories designed for large-scale strategic requirements. Lack of measurements on all forest land during the periodic inventories, along with plot access difficulties and misidentification of forest plots as nonforest due to poor aerial imagery, have resulted in missing data throughout the FIA database. These data gaps contribute to differences in estimates of forest C stocks and stock change due to the procedural transition from periodic to annual inventories. This study builds on recent work examining strategies to compensate for nonresponse (i.e., missing data) in annual inventories by evaluating imputation and model-based approaches to update forest carbon data throughout the periodic inventories using plots measured previously in the periodic inventories. The precision and uncertainty of annual estimates throughout the periodic inventories will be evaluated for each updating approach and forest carbon stocks and stock changes obtained using current methods will be compared with estimates obtained from approaches proposed in this study.

Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that is found in aquatic food webs and is hazardous to human and wildlife health. We examined the relationship between Hg deposition, land coverage by coniferous and deciduous forests, and average Hg concentrations in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)-equivalent fish (LMBE) in 14 ecoregions located within all or part of six states in the South Central U.S. In 11 ecoregions, the average Hg concentrations in 35.6-cm total length LMBE were above 300 ng/g, the threshold concentration of Hg recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the issuance of fish consumption advisories. Percent land coverage by coniferous forests within ecoregions had a significant linear relationship with average Hg concentrations in LMBE while percent land coverage by deciduous forests did not. Eighty percent of the variance in average Hg concentrations in LMBE between ecoregions could be accounted for by estimated Hg deposition after adjusting for the effects of coniferous forests. Here we show for the first time that fish from ecoregions with high atmospheric Hg pollution and coniferous forest coverage pose a significant hazard to human health. Our study suggests that models that use Hg deposition to predict Hg concentrations in fish could be improved by including the effects of coniferous forests on Hg deposition.

The effects of land management and disturbance on ecosystem performance (i.e. biomass production) are often confounded by those of weather and site potential. The current study overcomes this issue by calculating the difference between actual and expected ecosystem performance (EEP) to generate ecosystem performance anomalies (EPA). This study aims to delineate and quantify average EPA from 2000–2009 within the Greater Platte and Upper Colorado River Basins, USA. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images averaged over the growing season (GSN) served as a proxy of actual ecosystem performance. Yearly EEP was determined with rule-based piecewise regression tree models of abiotic data (climate, soils, elevation, etc.), independently created for each land cover. EPA were calculated as the residuals of the EEP to GSN relationship, and characterized as normal performing, underperforming, and overperforming at the 90% confidence level. Validation revealed that EPA values were related to biomass production (R2 = 0.56, P = 0.02) and likely to the proportion of biomass removed by livestock in the Nebraska Sandhills. Overall, 60.6% of the study area was (normal) performing near its EEP, 3.0% was severely underperforming, 5.0% was highly overperforming, and the remainder was slightly underperforming or overperforming. Generally, disturbances such as fires, floods, and insect damage, in addition to high grazing intensity, result in a negative EPA. Conversely, mature stands and appropriate management often result in positive EPA values. This method provides information critical to land managers to evaluate the appropriateness of previous management practices and restoration efforts and quantify disturbance impacts. Results are at a scale sufficient for many of the large management units of the region and for locating areas needing further investigation. Applications of EPA data to monitoring invasive species

Plantation forest area in the conterminous UnitedStates (CONUS) ranked second among the world's nations in the land area apportioned to forest plantation. As compared to the naturally regenerated forests, plantation forests demonstrate significant differences in biophysical characteristics, and biogeochemical and hydrological cycles as a result of more intensive management practices. Inventory data have been reported for multiple time periods on plot, state, and regional scales across the CONUS, but the requisite annual and spatially explicit plantation data set over a long-term period for analysis of the role of plantation management on regional or national scales is lacking. Through synthesis of multiple inventory data sources, this study developed methods to spatialize the time series plantation forest and tree species distribution data for the CONUS over the 1928-2012 time period. According to this new data set, plantation forest area increased from near zero in the 1930s to 268.27 thousand km2 in 2012, accounting for 8.65 % of the total forestland area in the CONUS. Regionally, the South contained the highest proportion of plantation forests, accounting for about 19.34 % of total forestland area in 2012. This time series and gridded data set developed here can be readily applied in regional Earth system modeling frameworks for assessing the impacts of plantation management practices on forest productivity, carbon and nitrogen stocks, and greenhouse gases (e.g., CO2, CH4, and N2O) and water fluxes on regional or national scales. The gridded plantation distribution and tree species maps, and the interpolated state-level annual tree planting area and plantation area during 1928-2012, are available from https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.873558.

The USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) and the Natural Resource Conservation Service's State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) data bases provide valuable natural resource data that can be analyzed at the national scale. When coupled with other data (e.g., climate), these data bases can provide insights into factors associated with current and...

To assess the concern over declining base cation levels in forest soils caused by acid deposition, input-output budgets (1990s average) for sulphate (SO(4)), inorganic nitrogen (NO(3)-N; NH(4)-N), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K) were synthesised for 21 forested catchments from 17 regions in Canada, the UnitedStates and Europe. Trend analysis was conducted on monthly ion concentrations in deposition and runoff when more than 9 years of data were available (14 regions, 17 sites). Annual average SO(4) deposition during the 1990s ranged between 7.3 and 28.4 kg ha(-1) per year, and inorganic nitrogen (N) deposition was between 2.8 and 13.8 kg ha(-1) per year, of which 41-67% was nitrate (NO(3)-N). Over the period of record, SO(4) concentration in deposition decreased in 13/14 (13 out of 14 total) regions and SO(4) in runoff decreased at 14/17 catchments. In contrast, NO(3)-N concentrations in deposition decreased in only 1/14 regions, while NH(4)-N concentration patterns varied; increasing at 3/14 regions and decreasing at 2/14 regions. Nitrate concentrations in runoff decreased at 4/17 catchments and increased at only 1 site, whereas runoff levels of NH(4)-N increased at 5/17 catchments. Decreasing trends in deposition were also recorded for Ca, Mg, and K at many of the catchments and on an equivalent basis, accounted for up to 131% (median 22%) of the decrease in acid anion deposition. Base cation concentrations in streams generally declined over time, with significant decreases in Ca, Mg and K occurring at 8, 9 and 7 of 17 sites respectively, which accounted for up to 133% (median 48%) of the decrease in acid anion concentration. Sulphate export exceeded input at 18/21 catchments, likely due to dry deposition and/or internal sources. The majority of N in deposition (31-100%; median 94%) was retained in the catchments, although there was a tendency for greater NO(3)-N leaching at sites receiving higher (export of Ca and Mg in runoff exceeds input at

Forest certification is perhaps the best example of a voluntary governance structure for addressing environmental spillovers. Competing forest certification schemes have evolved. At the global level, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification and Forest Stewardship

Coarse and fine woody debris are substantial forest ecosystem carbon stocks; however, there is a lack of understanding how these detrital carbon stocks vary across forested landscapes. Because forest woody detritus production and decay rates may partially depend on climatic conditions, the accumulation of coarse and fine woody debris carbon stocks in forests may be...

U.S. forests and forest products currently offset about 20% of the nation's fossil fuel emissions. Two of the most significant recent scientific findings cast doubt on the sustainability of this offset. First, there are clear indications that the strength of the U.S. forest carbon offset is weakening due to increasing forest age, climate variability, and...

This article takes a brief chronological look at resource inventory and reporting and links to international influences. It explores events as drivers of more consistent data within the UnitedStates and highlights key dates and events in the evolution of inventory policy and practice. From King George to L?Ecole nationale forestiere to the Food and Agriculture...

Since European settlement, both climate and human land use have acted on forests in the upper Midwestern UnitedStates resulting in changes in forest structure and composition. The extent of these changes has been examined locally and at the state level by examining forest records from the Public Lands Survey System (PLSS), but here we bring together records of changing forest composition with weather records from the mid to late 19th century from the 19th Century Forts and Observer's Database. We are able to assign attribution for taxon range and composition shifts in the region to either land use, climate or both. We see that much of the range contraction in the region seen when comparing Forest Inventory and Analysis data with Public Land Survey System data occurs along the prairie margin, with northern forests showing greater stability in both range and composition suggesting a dominant role for land use in structuring regional vegetation. Modern forests are often less diverse than PLSS forests and the mean minimum dissimilarity between modern and PLSS-era forests is significantly higher than the minimum dissimilarity within either the PLSS-era forests or the modern (FIA) forests, indicating the possiblity that our modern forests have already become 'no-analogue' ecosystems.

Full Text Available Knowledge of the ecological effect of wildfire is important to resource managers, especially from forests in which past anthropogenic influences, e.g., fire suppression and timber harvesting, have been limited. Changes to forest structure and regeneration patterns were documented in a relatively unique old-growth Jeffrey pine-mixed conifer forest in northwestern Mexico after a July 2003 wildfire. This forested area has never been harvested and fire suppression did not begin until the 1970s. Fire effects were moderate especially considering that the wildfire occurred at the end of a severe, multi-year (1999-2003 drought. Shrub consumption was an important factor in tree mortality and the dominance of Jeffrey pine increased after fire. The Baja California wildfire enhanced or maintained a patchy forest structure; similar spatial heterogeneity should be included in US forest restoration plans. Most US forest restoration plans include thinning from below to separate tree crowns and attain a narrow range for residual basal area/ha. This essentially produces uniform forest conditions over broad areas that are in strong contrast to the resilient forests in northern Baja California. In addition to producing more spatial heterogeneity in restoration plans of forests that once experienced frequent, low-moderate intensity fire regimes, increased use of US wildfire management options such as wildland fire use as well as appropriate management responses to non-natural ignitions could also be implemented at broader spatial scales to increase the amount of burning in western US forests.

The TAMM/NAPAP/ATLAS/AREACHANGE(TNAA) system and the Forest and Agriculture Sector Optimization Model (FASOM) are two large-scale forestry sector modeling systems that have been employed to analyze the U.S. forest resource situation. The TNAA system of static, spatial equilibrium models has been applied to make SO-year projections of the U.S. forest sector for more...

Intensively-managed forest (IMF) ecosystems support environmental processes, retain biodiversity and reduce pressure to extract wood products from other forests, but may affect species, such as plethodontid salamanders, that are associated with closed canopies and possess limited vagility. We describe: (1) critical aspects of IMF ecosystems; (2) effectiveness of plethodontid salamanders as barometers of forest change; (3) two case studies of relationships between salamanders and coarse wood...

This study assesses the motivation, willingness, and technical as well as managerial capacities of U.S. cities to store carbon and sell carbon offsets. Based on a national survey of urban foresters, arborists, and other officials responsible for urban forest management within U.S. municipal governments, results indicate that local governments are interested in selling...

Regional water yield at a meso-scale can be estimated as the difference between precipitation input and evapotranspiration output. Forest water yield from the southeastern US varies greatly both in space and time. Because of the hot climate and high evapotranspiration, less than half of the annual precipitation that falls on forest lands is available for stream flow...

The forest industry within the northern region of the U.S. has declined notably in employment, mill numbers, wood consumption, and forest harvests since 2000â¦a downturn exacerbated by the recession of 2007 to 2009. Longer term industrial decline (since 2000) has been evidenced by reductions in secondary products (e.g., furniture) and print paper manufacturing which can...

Concerns over the effect of greenhouse gases and consequent international agreements and regional/national programs have spurred the need for comprehensive assessments of forest ecosystem carbon stocks. Down and dead woody (DDW) materials are a substantial component of forest carbon stocks; however, few surveys of DDW carbon stocks have been conducted at national-...

The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an economically important pest species throughout the southeastern UnitedStates, Arizona, Mexico, and Central America. Previous research identified population structure among widely distant locations, yet failed to detect population structure among national forests in the state of Mississippi. This study uses microsatellite variation throughout the southeastern UnitedStates to compare the southern pine beetle's pattern of population structure to phylogeographic patterns in the region, and to provide information about dispersal. Bayesian clustering identified east and west genetic groups spanning multiple states. The east group had lower heterozygosity, possibly indicating greater habitat fragmentation or a more recent colonization. Significant genetic differentiation (θ(ST) = 0.01, p < 0.0001) followed an isolation-by-distance pattern (r = 0.39, p < 0.001) among samples, and a hierarchical AMOVA indicated slightly more differentiation occurred between multi-state groups. The observed population structure matches a previously identified phylogeographic pattern, division of groups along the Appalachian Mountain/Apalachicola River axis. Our results indicate that the species likely occurs as a large, stable metapopulation with considerable gene flow among subpopulations. Also, the relatively low magnitude of genetic differentiation among samples suggests that southern pine beetles may respond similarly to management across their range.

Most nations have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and are mandated to report National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, including the land use, land use change and forestry sector when it is significant. Participating countries commonly use data from national forest inventories as a basis for their forest-related emissions estimates. The...

Full Text Available Intensively-managed forest (IMF ecosystems support environmental processes, retain biodiversity and reduce pressure to extract wood products from other forests, but may affect species, such as plethodontid salamanders, that are associated with closed canopies and possess limited vagility. We describe: (1 critical aspects of IMF ecosystems; (2 effectiveness of plethodontid salamanders as barometers of forest change; (3 two case studies of relationships between salamanders and coarse woody debris (CWD; and (4 research needs for effective management of salamanders in IMF ecosystems. Although plethodontid salamanders are sensitive to microclimate changes, their role as ecological indicators rarely have been evaluated quantitatively. Our case studies of CWD and salamanders in western and eastern forests demonstrated effects of species, region and spatial scale on the existence and strength of relationships between plethodontid species and a “critical” microhabitat variable. Oregon slender salamanders (Batrachoseps wrighti were more strongly associated with abundance of CWD in managed second growth forests than ensatina salamanders (Ensatina eschscholtzii. Similarly, CWD was not an important predictor of abundance of Appalachian salamanders in managed hardwood forest. Gaining knowledge of salamanders in IMF ecosystems is critical to reconciling ecological and economic objectives of intensive forest management, but faces challenges in design and implementation.

Water is one of the most critical natural systems for human and ecosystem health and well-being. Understanding the influence of changes in land cover on hydrology is critical to anticipating future water availability and impacts on agriculture/industry, ecosystems, and residential water supplies. In the UnitedStates, most major water sources originate in forested watersheds, and thus we aim to understand how changes in forest cover influence water supplies over those areas, specifically identifying which types of watersheds exhibit marked rapid changes in water yield as a result of disturbance processes (e.g., fire). Using a set of 601 primarily unmanaged watersheds (2000-2010) across the US and a 30m forest disturbance dataset, we explored the relationship between changes in water resources, measured in terms of detrended runoff ratios, and forest disturbance severity. Preliminary results find some watersheds nearly completely disturbed due to fire, while others undisturbed. Most watersheds were relatively insensitive--in terms of their expected runoff ratios--to disturbances during that time period, but several were highly sensitive. Areas which showed major increases in water yield post-disturbance generally had larger disturbances occur in areas coincident with higher average precipitation. Soils in these areas had comparatively moderate to low infiltration rates and little subsurface water exchange, and were typically at higher slopes with a lower wetland component. They also had less water storage in the system. Overall, the results from this study are expected to be broadly relevant to communities and scientists seeking to anticipate the hydrologic impacts of large-scale land-cover disturbance.

Forest harvest residues and forest floor materials are significant sources of mineral soil organic matter and nutrients for regenerating and establishing forests. Harvest residues in particular are occasionally removed, piled, or burned following harvesting. Weyerhaeuser Company established an experimental study to evaluate the effect of the removal and addition of harvest residual and forest-floor on site productivity and soil carbon. This study was installed in a loblolly pine plantation near Millport, Alabama, USA on the Upper Gulf Coastal Plain to test both extremes from complete removal of harvest residues and forest floor to doubling of these materials. This study has been continuously monitored since its establishment in 1994. We have examined the effects of varying forest floor levels on the biomass, soil carbon content, and soil carbon composition in the context of these management activities. Above- and below-ground productivity, soil moisture, soil temperature, and nutrient dynamics have been related to soil organic carbon in mineral soil, size/density fractionation, and lignin and cutin biomarkers from the cupric oxide (CuO)-oxidation technique. We have found that while removing litter and harvest residues has little effect on biomass production and soil carbon, importing litter and harvest residues increases forest productivity and soil carbon content. Interestingly, increased carbon was observed in all depths assessed (O horizon, 0-20, 20-40, and 40-60cm) suggesting that this practice may sequester organic carbon in deep soil horizons. Our biomarker analysis indicated that importing litter and harvest residues increased relative contributions from above ground sources at the 20-40cm depth and increased relative contributions from belowground sources at the 40-60cm depth. These results suggest that organic matter manipulations in managed forests can have significant effects on deep soil carbon that may be resistant to mineralization or the effects of

Avian diversity is under increasing pressures. It is thus critical to understand the ecological variables that contribute to large scale spatial distribution of avian species diversity. Traditionally, studies have relied primarily on two-dimensional habitat structure to model broad scale species richness. Vegetation vertical structure is increasingly used at local scales. However, the spatial arrangement of vegetation height has never been taken into consideration. Our goal was to examine the efficacies of three-dimensional forest structure, particularly the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation height in improving avian richness models across forested ecoregions in the U.S. We developed novel habitat metrics to characterize the spatial arrangement of vegetation height using the National Biomass and Carbon Dataset for the year 2000 (NBCD). The height-structured metrics were compared with other habitat metrics for statistical association with richness of three forest breeding bird guilds across Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes: a broadly grouped woodland guild, and two forest breeding guilds with preferences for forest edge and for interior forest. Parametric and non-parametric models were built to examine the improvement of predictability. Height-structured metrics had the strongest associations with species richness, yielding improved predictive ability for the woodland guild richness models (r(2) = ∼ 0.53 for the parametric models, 0.63 the non-parametric models) and the forest edge guild models (r(2) = ∼ 0.34 for the parametric models, 0.47 the non-parametric models). All but one of the linear models incorporating height-structured metrics showed significantly higher adjusted-r2 values than their counterparts without additional metrics. The interior forest guild richness showed a consistent low association with height-structured metrics. Our results suggest that height heterogeneity, beyond canopy height alone, supplements habitat characterization and

Full Text Available Avian diversity is under increasing pressures. It is thus critical to understand the ecological variables that contribute to large scale spatial distribution of avian species diversity. Traditionally, studies have relied primarily on two-dimensional habitat structure to model broad scale species richness. Vegetation vertical structure is increasingly used at local scales. However, the spatial arrangement of vegetation height has never been taken into consideration. Our goal was to examine the efficacies of three-dimensional forest structure, particularly the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation height in improving avian richness models across forested ecoregions in the U.S. We developed novel habitat metrics to characterize the spatial arrangement of vegetation height using the National Biomass and Carbon Dataset for the year 2000 (NBCD. The height-structured metrics were compared with other habitat metrics for statistical association with richness of three forest breeding bird guilds across Breeding Bird Survey (BBS routes: a broadly grouped woodland guild, and two forest breeding guilds with preferences for forest edge and for interior forest. Parametric and non-parametric models were built to examine the improvement of predictability. Height-structured metrics had the strongest associations with species richness, yielding improved predictive ability for the woodland guild richness models (r(2 = ∼ 0.53 for the parametric models, 0.63 the non-parametric models and the forest edge guild models (r(2 = ∼ 0.34 for the parametric models, 0.47 the non-parametric models. All but one of the linear models incorporating height-structured metrics showed significantly higher adjusted-r2 values than their counterparts without additional metrics. The interior forest guild richness showed a consistent low association with height-structured metrics. Our results suggest that height heterogeneity, beyond canopy height alone, supplements habitat

Full Text Available Restoration of old-growth forest structure is an emerging silvicultural goal, especially in those regions where old-growth abundance falls below the historic range of variability. However, longitudinal studies of old-growth dynamics that can inform silvicultural and policy options are few. We analyzed the change in structure, including stand density, diameter distribution, and the abundance of large live, standing dead, and downed dead trees on 58 late-successional and old-growth plots in Maine, USA, and compared these to regional data from the U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis program. Structural dynamics on the late-successional plots reflected orderly change associated with density-dependent growth and mortality, but dynamics on the old-growth plots were more variable. Some plots experienced heavy mortality associated with beech bark disease. Diameter distributions conformed poorly to a classic exponential distribution, and did not converge toward such a distribution at the plot scale. Although large live trees showed a broad trend of increasing density in regional forests, recent harvesting patterns offset a considerable fraction of those gains, while mean diameter was static and the number of large dead trees was weakly declining. Even though forests of the northeast are aging, changes in silviculture and forest policy are necessary to accelerate restoration of old-growth structure.

US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture — A map service on the www depicting National Grassland units designated by the Secretary of Agriculture and permanently held by the Department of Agriculture under...

Full Text Available Abstract Background Standing dead trees are one component of forest ecosystem dead wood carbon (C pools, whose national stock is estimated by the U.S. as required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Historically, standing dead tree C has been estimated as a function of live tree growing stock volume in the U.S.'s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Initiated in 1998, the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis program (responsible for compiling the Nation's forest C estimates began consistent nationwide sampling of standing dead trees, which may now supplant previous purely model-based approaches to standing dead biomass and C stock estimation. A substantial hurdle to estimating standing dead tree biomass and C attributes is that traditional estimation procedures are based on merchantability paradigms that may not reflect density reductions or structural loss due to decomposition common in standing dead trees. The goal of this study was to incorporate standing dead tree adjustments into the current estimation procedures and assess how biomass and C stocks change at multiple spatial scales. Results Accounting for decay and structural loss in standing dead trees significantly decreased tree- and plot-level C stock estimates (and subsequent C stocks by decay class and tree component. At a regional scale, incorporating adjustment factors decreased standing dead quaking aspen biomass estimates by almost 50 percent in the Lake States and Douglas-fir estimates by more than 36 percent in the Pacific Northwest. Conclusions Substantial overestimates of standing dead tree biomass and C stocks occur when one does not account for density reductions or structural loss. Forest inventory estimation procedures that are descended from merchantability standards may need to be revised toward a more holistic approach to determining standing dead tree biomass and C attributes (i.e., attributes of tree biomass outside of sawlog

This report documents trends in America's rangelands as required by the Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974. The Forest Service has conducted assessments of the rangeland situation for 30 years. Over this period, rangeland values and uses have gradually shifted from concentrating upon forage production and meeting increasing demand for red meat to a more...

This review looks at the Nationâs legal, institutional, and economic capacity to promote forest conservation and sustainable resource management. It focuses on 20 indicators of Criterion Seven of the so-called Montreal Process and involves an extensive search and synthesis of information from a variety of sources. It identifies ways to fill information gaps and improve...

Fusarium commune can cause damping-off and root rot of conifer seedlings in forest nurseries, and this pathogen has been previously reported from Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, USA. We collected Fusarium isolates from additional nurseries in the midwestern and western USA to more fully determine occurrence of this pathogen. We used DNA sequences of the mitochondrial...

Symbiotic nitrogen (N) fixation is the major N input to many ecosystems. Although temperate forests are commonly N limited, symbiotic N-fixing trees (“N fixers”) are rare and decline in abundance as succession proceeds–a challenging paradox that remains unexplained. Understanding demographic processes that underlie N fixers’ rarity and successional decline would provide a proximate answer to the paradox. Do N fixers grow slower, die more frequently, or recruit less in temperate forests? We quantified demographic rates of N-fixing and non-fixing trees across succession using U.S. forest inventory data. We used an individual-based model to evaluate the relative contribution of each demographic process to community dynamics. Compared to non-fixers, N fixers had lower growth rates, higher mortality rates, and lower recruitment rates throughout succession. The mortality effect contributed more than the growth effect to N fixers’ successional decline. Canopy and understory N fixers experienced these demographic disadvantages, indicating that factors in addition to light limitation likely contribute to N fixers’ successional decline. We show that the rarity and successional decline of N-fixing trees in temperate forests is due more to their survival disadvantage than their growth disadvantage, and a recruitment disadvantage might also play a large role. PMID:27780268

The study reported here surveyed Extension educators' awareness and knowledge of woody biomass energy and assessed their desire and ability to reach out to family forest owners-a critical feedstock source. The results indicate Extension educators are aware of the potential of woody biomass to serve as a renewable source of energy. Respondents…

In 2007-2008, we examined the flight responses of Monochamus titillator (F.) complex [M. titillator, Monochamus carolinensis (Olivier), and any possible hybrids], Monochamus scutellatus (Say), Monochamus clamator (LeConte), Monochamus obtusus Casey, and Monochamus mutator LeConte (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) to multiple-funnel traps baited with and without host volatiles and bark beetle pheromones. Experiments were conducted in mature pine (Pinus) stands in Alberta (Canada), and Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin (UnitedStates). At each location, traps were deployed in 10 replicate blocks of four traps per block. The trap treatments were: 1) blank control; 2) ipsenol and ipsdienol; 3) ethanol and alpha-pinene; and 4) a quaternary blend of ipsenol, ipsdienol, ethanol, and alpha-pinene. All five species or species complex of Monochamus preferred traps baited with the quaternary blend over all other treatments. The consistency of these results across such a large geographic area suggests that similar selection pressures may be acting on Monochamus spp. in pine forests, regardless of variation in stand composition and climatic conditions. Our results suggest that multiple-funnel traps baited with the quaternary blend ofipsenol, ipsdienol, ethanol, and alpha-pinene may be highly effective for monitoring various Monochamus spp. in pine forests of North America, and may have utility in trapping and detection programs in North America and overseas.

The origin and significance of pimple mounds (low, elliptical to circular dune-like features found across much of the south-central UnitedStates) have been debated for nearly two centuries. We cored pimple mounds at four sites spanning the Ozark Plateau, Arkansas River Valley, and Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain and found that these mounds have a regionally consistent textural asymmetry such that there is a significant excess of coarse-grained sediment within their northwest flanks. We interpret this asymmetry as evidence of an eolian depositional origin of these mounds and conclude they are relict nebkhas (coppice dunes) deposited during protracted middle to late Holocene droughts. These four mounds yield optically stimulated luminescence ages between 2400 and 700 yr that correlate with well-documented periods of eolian activity and droughts on the southern Great Plains, including the Medieval Climate Anomaly. We conclude vegetation loss during extended droughts led to local eolian deflation and pimple mound deposition. These mounds reflect landscape response to multi-decadal droughts for the south-central U.S. The spatial extent of pimple mounds across this region further underscores the severity and duration of late Holocene droughts, which were significantly greater than historic droughts.

Bark beetles are highly damaging pests capable of destroying large areas of southern pine forests, with significant consequences for regional timber supply and forest ecosystem carbon dynamics. A number of recent studies have shown that following bark beetle outbreak, significant effects on ecosystem carbon and water cycling can occur. Relatively few studies have explored how ecosystem carbon and water cycling interact with other factors to control the hazard or risk of bark beetle outbreaks; these interactions, and their representation in conceptual model frameworks, are the focus of this study. Pine trees defend against bark beetle attacks through the exudation of of resin - a viscous compound that deters attacking beetles through a combination of chemical and physical mechanisms. Constitutive resin flow (CRF, representing resin produced before attack) is assumed to be directly proportional to the balance between gross primary productivity (GPP) and net primary productivity (NPP) according to the Growth-Differentiation Balance theory (GDB). Thus, predictions for tree mortality and bark beetle dynamics under different management and climate regimes may be more accurate if a model framework describing the biophysical controls on resin production (e.g., GDB) were employed. Here, we synthesize measurements of resin flow, bark beetle dynamics, and ecosystem C flux from three managed loblolly pine forests in the Southeastern U.S.: the Duke Forest in Durham, NC; the Savannah River DOE site near Aiken, SC; and the Crossett Experimental Forest in southern Arkansas. We also explore the relationship between CRF and induced resin flow (IRF, representing the de novo synthesis of resin following stem wounding) in the latter two sites, where IRF was promoted by a novel tree baiting approach and prescribed fire, respectively. We assimilate observations within a hierarchical Bayesian framework to 1) test whether observations conform to the GDB hypothesis, and 2) explore effects

Forests of the northeastern UnitedStates are predicted to experience a decrease in the depth and duration of the winter snowpack over the next 100 years. Even when coupled with warmer winter air temperatures, the absence of snow as insulation can increase soil frost during the winter months. Past research has determined that there are species-level effects of soil frost on dominant forest trees. For example, in stands dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharum), induced soil frost led to increased fine root mortality and soil nitrate leaching. Soil frost also increased fine root mortality in stands dominated by yellow birch (Betula allegheniensis), but there was no significant change in leaching of soil nitrate. We hypothesized that greater nitrogen (N) losses from stands dominated by sugar maple may be due to reduced N uptake by fine roots of this tree species. To determine the impact of increased soil freezing on fine root uptake of N, we established a snow manipulation experiment in mixed sugar maple/American beech (Fagus grandifolia) forests at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire (n=4 paired snow-removal and reference plots; each 13m X 13m). Snow removal occurred during the first six weeks of winter over two years. During each growing season following snow removal, we used the N depletion technique to measure in situ rates of uptake of ammonium and nitrate by fine roots of sugar maple during the early, peak and late growing season. Among all sampling dates and plots, we observed significantly lower uptake of N as nitrate compared to ammonium. During the first growing season, at moderate ammonium availability (35 μM N) we observed significantly less uptake of ammonium by fine roots of sugar maple in the snow removal plots relative to the reference plots during the early growing season (April-May), with no significant differences in uptake of ammonium during the peak (July) and late (September) growing season. We observed no differences in

Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, managing and operating contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, is the lead laboratory for U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Testing. Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC contracted with Intertek Testing Services, North America (ITSNA) to collect and evaluate data on federal fleet operations as part of the Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity’s Federal Fleet Vehicle Data Logging and Characterization study. The Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity study seeks to collect and evaluate data to validate the utilization of advanced electric drive vehicle transportation. This report focuses on the Caribou-Targhee National Forest (CTNF) fleet to identify daily operational characteristics of select vehicles and report findings on vehicle and mission characterizations to support the successful introduction of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) into the agencies’ fleets. Individual observations of these selected vehicles provide the basis for recommendations related to electric vehicle adoption and whether a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) (collectively plug-in electric vehicles, or PEVs) can fulfill the mission requirements. ITSNA acknowledges the support of Idaho National Laboratory and CTNF for participation in the study. ITSNA is pleased to provide this report and is encouraged by enthusiasm and support from the Forest Service and CTNF personnel.

Number of living root tips per branch, percent dead roots, percent mycorrhizae and mycorrhizal morphotype, response of woody roots to wounding and colonization by fungi, and concentrations of starch, soluble sugars, phenols, percent C and N and C/N ratio, and Al Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, and P were measured for 2 consecutive years in roots of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) in stands in the northeastern UnitedStates (nine in 1993 and two additional in 1994) dominated by red spruce and with a gradient of forest floor exchangeable Al/Ca ratios. Root vitality was measured for nonwoody and coarse woody roots; chemical variables were measured for nonwoody (<1 mm), fine woody (1 to <2 mm), and coarse woody (2 to <5 mm) roots. There were significant differences among sites for all variables, particularly in 1993, although few were related to the Al/Ca ratio gradient. Percent mycorrhizae decreased, while some morphotypes increased or decreased as the Al/Ca ratio increased. In nonwoody roots, N increased as the Al/Ca ratio increased. Most sampled trees appeared to be in good or fair health, suggesting that an adverse response of these root variables to high Al concentrations may be apparent only after a significant change in crown health.

Climate change is drastically affecting the alpine landscape of Mount Rainier, encouraging glacial retreat, changes in snowpack thickness and longevity, and sediment delivery to downstream fluvial systems, leading to an extremely transport limited system and aggradation of the river valleys. River aggradation encourages devastating interactions between the pro-glacial braided fluvial systems and streamside floodplain ecosystems, in most places occupied by old-growth conifer forests. Current aggradation rates of the channels, bordered by late seral stage riparian forests, inhibit floodplain development, leading to an inverted relationship between perched river channels and lower-elevation adjacent floodplains. This disequilibrium creates a steeper gradient laterally towards the floodplains, rather than downstream; promoting flooding of streamside forest, removal and burial of vegetation with coarse alluvium, incision of avulsion channels, tree mortality, wood recruitment to channels, and ultimately widening the alluviated valley towards the glacially carved hillslopes. Aggradation and loss of streamside old-growth forest poses a significant problem to park infrastructure (e.g. roads, trails, and campgrounds) due to flood damage with as frequent as a two-year event. Other park rivers, the White River and Tahoma Creek, characterize two end-member cases. Despite an extremely perched channel, the White River is relatively stable; experiencing small avulsions while the old-growth streamside forest has remained mostly intact. These relatively small avulsions however severely impact park infrastructure, causing extensive flood damage and closure of the heavily trafficked state highway. Conversely debris flows on Tahoma Creek destroyed the streamside forest and migration across the valley is uninhibited. Mature streamside forests tend to oppose avulsions, sieving wood at the channel margins, promoting sediment deposition and deflection of erosive flows. Our study seeks to

This presentation discusses MODIS vegetation phenology products used in the ForWarn Early Warning System (EWS) tool for near real time regional forest disturbance detection and surveillance at regional to national scales. The ForWarn EWS is being developed by the USDA Forest Service NASA, ORNL, and USGS to aid federal and stateforest health management activities. ForWarn employs multiple historical land surface phenology products that are derived from MODIS MOD13 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data. The latter is temporally processed into phenology products with the Time Series Product Tool (TSPT) and the Phenological Parameter Estimation Tool (PPET) software produced at NASA Stennis Space Center. TSPT is used to effectively noise reduce, fuse, and void interpolate MODIS NDVI data. PPET employs TSPT-processed NDVI time series data as an input, outputting multiple vegetation phenology products at a 232 meter resolution for 2000 to 2011, including NDVI magnitude and day of year products for seven key points along the growing season (peak of growing season and the minima, 20%, and 80% of the peak NDVI for both the left and right side of growing season), cumulative NDVI integral products for the most active part of the growing season and sequentially across the growing season at 8 day intervals, and maximum value NDVI products composited at 24 day intervals in which each product date has 8 days of overlap between the previous and following product dates. MODIS NDVI phenology products are also used to compute nationwide NRT forest change products refreshed every 8 days. These include percent change in forest NDVI products that compare the current NDVI from USGS eMODIS products to historical MODIS MOD13 NDVI. For each date, three forest change products are produced using three different maximum value NDVI baselines (from the previous year, three previous years, and all previous years). All change products are output with a rainbow color table in which

This presentation discusses MODIS vegetation phenology products used in the ForWarn Early Warning System (EWS) tool for near real time regional forest disturbance detection and surveillance at regional to national scales. The ForWarn EWS is being developed by the USDA Forest Service NASA, ORNL, and USGS to aid federal and stateforest health management activities. ForWarn employs multiple historical land surface phenology products that are derived from MODIS MOD13 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data. The latter is temporally processed into phenology products with the Time Series Product Tool (TSPT) and the Phenological Parameter Estimation Tool (PPET) software produced at NASA Stennis Space Center. TSPT is used to effectively noise reduce, fuse, and void interpolate MODIS NDVI data. PPET employs TSPT-processed NDVI time series data as an input, outputting multiple vegetation phenology products at a 232 meter resolution for 2000 to 2011, including NDVI magnitude and day of year products for seven key points along the growing season (peak of growing season and the minima, 20%, and 80% of the peak NDVI for both the left and right side of growing season), cumulative NDVI integral products for the most active part of the growing season and sequentially across the growing season at 8 day intervals, and maximum value NDVI products composited at 24 day intervals in which each product date has 8 days of overlap between the previous and following product dates. MODIS NDVI phenology products are also used to compute nationwide near real time forest change products every 8 days. These include percent change in forest NDVI products that compare the current NDVI from USGS eMODIS products to historical MODIS MOD13 NDVI. For each date, three forest change products are produced using three different maximum value NDVI baselines (from the previous year, three previous years, and all previous years). All change products are output with a rainbow color table in which

US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture — A map service on the www depicting units designated by the Secretary of Agriculture or previously approved by the National Forest Reservation Commission for purposes...

The field experiment described took place in the Sayani Mountains of Siberia. The purpose of the joint field campaign was to observe and exchange methodologies with Russian scientists with regard to the development of remote sensing techniques for the early detection and assessment of forest decline damage believed to be associated with atmospheric deposition and/or insect and disease infestations. Several types of passive and active remote sensing measurements were made in conjunction with biophysical measurements on vegetative samples collected from four study sites representing a strong elevational gradient. Relatively cloud-free SPOT data were also acquired over the study area. Moderate canopy damage was recorded at the mid-elevation site (3400 ft/1037 m). The lowest levels of damage were recorded at the lowest elevation site (2300 ft/701 m.) At all sites, east versus west flagging of the canopy was noted (i.e., full canopy on the west-facing side of the canopy, significantly less foliage on the east-facing side).

The Analysis of the Outdoor Recreation and Wilderness Situation in the UnitedStates is intended to build upon past studies and to establish a new and better information base on outdoor recreation and wilderness demand and supply. Also, this assessment answers several key questions which will help identify ways to meet demand through the year 2040. Specifically, it is...

Management-level forest resource data in China were obtained with a combination of two forest inventories. However, inconsistencies in the spatial attributes of forest data vary between the two inventory types and between two inventories of the same type. The inconsistencies make it inconvenient for long-term forest management planning with digital technologies. Ecological Land Types (ELTs) and Ecological Land Type Phases (ELTPs) have been mapped in selected forestry regions in northeast China, where important forest industries are located. The boundaries of ELTs are determined by geomorphic conditions, which are quantified by Digital Elevation Models (DEM); ELTPs are classified by overlaying ELTs with forest vegetation data layers that are obtained with both remotely sensed and ground data. The ELTPs represent the divisions of land in terms of both natural and human-induced forest conditions, and therefore they are reliable units for forest inventories and management. This paper introduces a case study for digitally determining forest inventory units in Benxi City, Liaoning Province, northeast China. The general objective of the study was to explain how a compatible forest inventory system should be designed and why the compatible forest inventory system was significant to digital forestry in China.

Forest harvest residues and forest floor materials are significant sources of mineral soil organic matter and nutrients for regenerating and establishing forests. Harvest residues in particular are occasionally removed, piled, or burned following harvesting. While the forest floor is never purposely removed during operational harvesting and site preparation, they could become in high demand as bioenergy markets develop. Weyerhaeuser Company established an experimental study to evaluate the effect of forest-floor manipulation on site productivity and soil carbon. This study was installed in a loblolly pine plantation near Millport, Alabama, USA on the Upper Gulf Coastal Plain to test both extremes from complete removal of harvest residues and forest floor to doubling of these materials. This study has been continuously monitored since its establishment in 1994. We have examined the effects of varying forest floor levels on the biomass, soil carbon content, and soil carbon composition in the context of these management activities. Above- and below-ground productivity, soil moisture, soil temperature, and nutrient dynamics have been related to soil organic carbon in mineral soil size/density fractionation and lignin and cutin biomarkers from the cupric oxide (CuO) oxidation technique. We have found that while removing litter and harvest residues has little effect on biomass production and soil carbon, importing litter and harvest residues increases forest productivity and soil carbon content. Interestingly, increased carbon was observed in all depths assessed (O horizon, 0-20, 20-40, and 40-60cm) suggesting that this practice may sequester organic carbon in deep soil horizons. Our biomarker analysis indicated that importing litter and harvest residues increased relative contributions from above ground sources at the 20-40cm depth and increased relative contributions from belowground sources at the 40-60cm depth. These results suggest that organic matter manipulations

以美国西部3个著名的国家公园(黄石、洛基山和大峡谷)及其缓冲区为研究对象,以空间分辨率30m的3期美国国家土地覆盖数据库(National Land Cover Databases,NLCD 1992\\2001 \\2006)为数据源,采用森林破碎化分析模型与景观指数相结合的方法刻画国家公园及其缓冲区内森林破碎化及干扰模式的时空差异,并有效分离导致森林破碎化的人为干扰和自然干扰贡献份额.结果表明:美国西部国家公园内森林因严格保护而破碎化程度较低且森林状态保持稳定,主要的干扰形式是自然干扰并伴有少量的城市土地利用类型的空间交互.而在缓冲区,由于存在相对宽松的森林经营活动森林破碎化程度较高,森林受自然干扰和人为干扰共同作用,其中农业土地利用扮演主要角色.这些差异主要归因于美国西部陡峻的地形、土地所有权及民众的生活方式.为了有效改善中国森林及国家公园的管理水平,可充分借鉴美国国家公园管理过程中的先进的经营理念、法律依据、管理机制、资金机制和监督机制等,并应在森林经营实践中确保森林保护政策有效执行.%A forest fragmentation model in concert with geospatial metrics was employed to characterize the spatio-temporal variability in forest fragmentation and disturbance patterns within three national parks (Yellow Stone, Rocky Mountains and Grand Canyon) and their transition zones in the western UnitedStates based on the triple-temporal national land cover databases (NLCD1992/2001/2006) in a spatial resolution of 30 meters. Contributions of anthropogenic and natural disturbances to fragmentation were effectively separated via the fragmentation model to highlight areas with high priority of conservation or remediation. Results showed that the forest in the national parks had a low fragmentation due to its rigorous forest conservation practice and the forest status remained relatively

Remote sensing systems were used to monitor forest decline damage suspected of being due to air pollution. Field activities and aircraft overflights were centered on montane spruce/fir forest sites. Using aircraft data acquired with the Thematic Mapper Simulator (TMS) and LANDSAT Thematic Mapper (TM) during the growing season, extensive areas of forest decline damage were accurately mapped. Seven levels of decline damage are discrininated and mapped and the levels of discriminated damage agree well (rsq-0.94) with visual assessment conducted on the ground. New areas of high damage were discovered. A band ratio (TM5/TM4) is most useful in discriminating and quantifying the various levels of forest decline damage.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This dataset represents the characterization of global forest extent and change from 2000 through 2013 within individual local NHDPlusV2 catchments and upstream,...

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This dataset represents the characterization of global forest extent and change from 2000 through 2013 within individual local NHDPlusV2 catchments and upstream,...

Fire prevention is not only an important work of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, but also the important constituent part of biodiversity, global change and sustainable development. Forest fire is one of the greatest impact natural factors on forest health. Trends and results of forest fire researches in Europe and North America were reviewed. Relationship between forest fire and globle climate changing as well as trends of forest fire researches were discussed. Developmental directions of forest fire research in China were put forward.%林火是国际减灾战略的一项重要工作,也是生物多样性、全球气候变化和全球可持续发展的重要组成部分.森林火灾是对森林健康影响最大的自然因素之一.阐述了21世纪林业发达国家美国、加拿大、欧洲等国的林火研究方向与研究成果,以及林火与全球气候变化的研究,探讨了世界林火研究的发展趋势,提出了新时期我国林火研究的发展方向.

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false UnitedStates. 800.225 Section 800... TAKEOVERS BY FOREIGN PERSONS Definitions § 800.225 UnitedStates. The term UnitedStates or U.S. means the UnitedStates of America, the States of the UnitedStates, the District of Columbia, and any...

Full Text Available With this article, we provide an overview of the methods, instruments and initiatives for forest biomass observation at global scale. We focus on the freely available information, provided by both remote and in-situ observations. The advantages and limitation of various space borne methods, including optical, radar (C, L and P band and LiDAR, as well as respective instruments available on the orbit (MODIS, Proba-V, Landsat, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 , ALOS PALSAR, Envisat ASAR or expecting (BIOMASS, GEDI, NISAR, SAOCOM-CS are discussed. We emphasize the role of in-situ methods in the development of a biomass models, providing calibration and validation of remote sensing data. We focus on freely available forest biomass maps, databases and empirical models. We describe the functionality of Biomass.Geo-Wiki.org portal, which provides access to a collection of global and regional biomass maps in full resolution with unified legend and units overplayed with high-resolution imagery. The Forest-Observation-System.net is announced as an international cooperation to establish a global in-situ forest biomass database to support earth observation and to encourage investment in relevant field-based observations and science. Prospects of unmanned aerial vehicles in the forest inventory are briefly discussed. The work was partly supported by ESA IFBN project (contract 4000114425/15/NL/FF/gp.

This report documents the role of the USDA Forest Service and their collaborators (SRTC, SREL, and several universities) in wetlands monitoring and research on the Savannah River Site. This report describes the rationales, methods, and results (when available) of these studies and summarizes and integrates the available information through 1996.

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... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false State and UnitedStates. 1220.615 Section 1220.615... CONSUMER INFORMATION Procedures To Request a Referendum Definitions § 1220.615 State and UnitedStates. State and UnitedStates include the 50 States of the UnitedStates of America, the District of...

Sand flies are insect vectors of protozoa from the genus Leishmania, causative parasites of visceral and American tegumentary leishmaniases. The present study discusses the bioecological aspects of sand fly species, transmitters of Leishmania protozoa, in different ecotopes of an Atlantic Forest Conservation Unit located in the metropolitan region of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil. Two monthly captures were made in 1 year, using CDC light traps, in two anthropized and two preserved environments. A total of 2936 sand flies belonging to the following ten species were captured: Evandromyia walkeri, Evandromyia evandroi, Psychodopygus wellcomei, Sciopemyia sordellii, Psathyromyia brasiliensis, Lutzomyia longipalpis, Evandromyia lenti, Psathyromyia shannoni, Nyssomyia whitmani and Nyssomyia intermedia. The most common species was E. walkeri (77.6%), followed by E. evandroi (17.5%). Forest was the site with the greatest abundance (32.4%), followed by bamboo grove (26.3%). Sand flies were generally more abundant in the rainy season and L. longipalpis, a vector species of Leishmania infantum, was adapted to anthropized environments. It was confirmed that P. wellcomei, a vector of Leishmania braziliensis in Amazônia, is a species associated with more preserved environments, and occurs only in the rainy season.

The Landsat archive is increasingly being used to detect trends in the occurrence of forest disturbance. Beyond information about the amount of area affected, forest managers need to know if and how disturbance regimes change. The National Forest System (NFS) has developed a comprehensive plan for carbon monitoring that requires a detailed temporal mapping of forest disturbances across 75 million hectares. A long-term annual time series that shows the timing, extent, and type of disturbance beginning in 1990 and ending in 2011 has been prepared for several USFS Regions, including the Northern Region. Our mapping starts with an automated detection of annual disturbances using a time series of historical Landsat imagery. Automated detections are meticulously inspected, corrected and labeled using various USFS ancillary datasets. The resulting maps of verified disturbance show the timing and types are fires, harvests, insect activity, disease, and abiotic (wind, drought, avalanche) damage. Also, the magnitude of each change event is modeled in terms of the proportion of canopy cover lost. The sequence of disturbances for every pixel since 1990 has been consistently mapped and is available across the entirety of NFS. Our datasets contain sufficient information to describe the frequency of stand replacement, as well as how often disturbance results in only a partial loss of canopy. This information provides empirical insight into how an initial disturbance may predispose a stand to further disturbance, and it also show a climatic signal in the occurrence of processes such as fire and insect epidemics. Thus, we have the information to model the likelihood of occurrence of certain disturbances after a given event (i.e. if we have a fire in the past what does that do to the likelihood of occurrence of insects in the future). Here, we explore if previous disturbance history is a reliable predictor of additional disturbance in the future and we present results of applying

Forest land managers face the challenges of preparing their forests for the impacts of climate change. However, climate change adds a new dimension to the task of developing and testing science-based management options to deal with the effects of stressors on forest ecosystems in the southern UnitedStates. The large spatial scale and complex interactions make...

Climate change is one of several threats that will increase the likelihood that forest tree species could experience population-level extirpation or species-level extinction. Scientists and managers from throughout the UnitedStatesForest Service have cooperated to develop a framework for conservation priority-setting assessments of forest tree species. This framework...

In summary, irrigation costs and prices are rising in most regions of the UnitedStates, due to a combination of increasing scarcity, changes in public preferences regarding water allocation among competing uses, increasing budget scrutiny in the national and state legislatures, rising energy prices, and increasing awareness of climate change and the potential implications for rainfall and the availability of surface water resources. These issues likely will continue encouraging public offici...

... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false UnitedStates. 1250.308 Section 1250.308 Agriculture... Research and Promotion Order Definitions § 1250.308 UnitedStates. UnitedStates means the 48 contiguous States of the UnitedStates of America and the District of Columbia....

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false UnitedStates. 592.311 Section 592... § 592.311 UnitedStates. The term UnitedStates, when used in the geographic sense, means the several States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the UnitedStates....

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false UnitedStates. 120.13 Section 120.13 Foreign... UnitedStates. UnitedStates, when used in the geographical sense, includes the several states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the insular possessions of the UnitedStates, the District of Columbia,...

As might be expected,educational institutions in the UnitedStates reflect the nation's basic values,especially the ideal of equality of opportunity.From elementary school through college,Americans believe that everyone deserves an equal opportunity to get a good education.

Anna Newton, Surveillance Epidemiologist at CDC, discusses cholera that was brought to the UnitedStates during an outbreak in Haiti and the Dominican Republic (Hispaniola). Created: 11/8/2011 by National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID). Date Released: 11/8/2011.

... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false State and UnitedStates. 1209.21 Section 1209.21... Definitions § 1209.21 State and UnitedStates. (a) State means any of the several States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. (b) UnitedStates means collectively the several States...

US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture — This data is a compilation of forest insect, disease and abiotic damage mapped by aerial detection surveys on forested areas in the UnitedStates. US Forest Service,...

The planetary boundary layer (PBL) is a region of inherent interest because reactive VOCs emitted from the forest canopy are mixed with the residual and free tropospheric air masses, oxidized, and/or otherwise removed in this region. The characterization of diurnal variation of VOCs in the PBL is limited due to the lack of appropriate sampling platforms that are able to probe all the regions of interest: from the surface to the entrainment zone. Here we present the application of the Whole Air Sample Profiler (WASP) system during the 2013 Southeast Atmosphere Study (SAS) campaign. A total of 41 research flights (RFs) were carried out during the 2013 SAS campaign between June 1 and June 14 over the Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center (AABC) site and the SEARCH site. During each RF, ambient air sampling started from 50-100 m above the canopy top and stopped at ~1200 m above the mean sea level (a.m.s.l). The air samples were subsequently analyzed by using a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS). Here we analyze the vertical profiles and averaged diurnal variation of the mixing ratios of several reactive VOC species, including isoprene, the sum of monoterpenes, and first generation oxidation products of isoprene: methyl vinyl ketone and methacrolein (MVK+MACR). A MiXed Layer Chemistry (MXLCH) model, guided by the meteorological and chemical observations during the SAS campaign, is used to study the influence of boundary layer dynamics and new isoprene oxidation mechanism on the diurnal variation of major biogenic VOCs emitted from the forest canopy. The new scheme includes OH recycling through two pathways under low-NOx regime: (1) hydroxyl peroxy radicals (HOC5H8OO•; ISOPO2) unimolecular isomerization, and (2) ISOPO2+HO2. The model is able to reproduce the evolution of the boundary layer dynamics (including potential temperature, and boundary layer height) during the selected simulation dates. Based on the model results, budget

Full Text Available Field and modeling studies were used to quantify potential successional pathways among fine-scale ecological classification units within two geomorphic regions of north-central Minnesota. Soil and overstory data were collected on plots stratified across low-relief ground moraines and undulating sand dunes. Each geomorphic feature was sampled across gradients of topography or soil texture. Overstory conditions were sampled using five variable-radius point samples per plot; soil samples were analyzed for carbon and nitrogen content. Climatic, forest composition, and soil data were used to parameterize the sample plots for use with LINKAGES, a forest growth model that simulates changes in composition and soil characteristics over time. Forest composition and soil properties varied within and among geomorphic features. LINKAGES simulations were using "bare ground" and the current overstory as starting conditions. Northern hardwoods or pines dominated the late-successional communities of morainal and dune landforms, respectively. The morainal landforms were dominated by yellow birch and sugar maple; yellow birch reached its maximum abundance in intermediate landscape positions. On the dune sites, pine was most abundant in drier landscape positions, with white spruce increasing in abundance with increasing soil moisture and N content. The differences in measured soil properties and predicted late-successional composition indicate that ecological land units incorporate some of the key variables that govern forest composition and structure. They further show the value of ecological classification and modeling for developing forest management strategies that incorporate the spatial and temporal dynamics of forest ecosystems.

Using data from the nationally representative National Health and Social Life Survey, this study queried the correlates of masturbation in the UnitedStates in 1992. Among those aged 18-60, 38% (CI, 35-41) of women and 61% (CI, 57-65) of men reported any masturbation over the preceding year. The system of factors underlying masturbation was similar for both genders, consistent with a convergence in gender patterns of sexual expression in the UnitedStates. Among both women and men, masturbation responded to a stable sexualized personality pattern, catalyzed by early-life factors and manifested in current sexual traits. Strikingly, the masturbation-partnered sex linkage, often conceptualized either as compensating for unsatisfying sex or complementing a satisfactory sex life, appeared to be bimodal for both genders. For some, masturbation complemented an active and pleasurable sex life, while among others, it compensated for a lack of partnered sex or satisfaction in sex.

President of the UnitedStates is the chief executive officer of the federal government, the leader of the executive branch1, and the corn man der-in-chief of the armed forces2. The president has the power to make treaties with other nations, with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate3. The president also appoints4, with Senate's consent, diplomatic representatives ,Supreme Court judges5, and many other officials.

This book presents OECD assessments and recommendations regarding the UnitedStates' effort to manage its environment including air, water nature, and biodiversity to do this in a sustainable manner; and to do this in co-operation with its global neighbours. In particular, it assesses progress made since 1996, when OECD's previous review on the US was done. 40 figs., 21 tabs.

The Forest Operations Unit of the Southern Research Station has been studying biomass-related topics since 1977. This CD aids the reader by organizing these publications in one easy-to-use CD. This CD is comprised of an executive summary, two bibliographies, individual publications (in PDF format), and a keyword listing. The types of publications included on this CD...

The southwestern UnitedStates pined for water in late March and early April 2007. This image is based on data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite from March 22 through April 6, 2007, and it shows the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, or NDVI, for the period. In this NDVI color scale, green indicates areas of healthier-than-usual vegetation, and only small patches of green appear in this image, near the California-Nevada border and in Utah. Larger areas of below-normal vegetation are more common, especially throughout California. Pale yellow indicates areas with generally average vegetation. Gray areas appear where no data were available, likely due to persistent clouds or snow cover. According to the April 10, 2007, update from the U.S. Drought Monitor, most of the southwestern United Sates, including Utah, Nevada, California, and Arizona, experienced moderate to extreme drought. The hardest hit areas were southeastern California and southwestern Arizona. Writing for the Drought Monitor, David Miskus of the Joint Agricultural Weather Facility reported that March 2007 had been unusually dry for the southwestern UnitedStates. While California's and Utah's reservoir storage was only slightly below normal, reservoir storage was well below normal for New Mexico and Arizona. In early April, an international research team published an online paper in Science noting that droughts could become more common for the southwestern UnitedStates and northern Mexico, as these areas were already showing signs of drying. Relying on the same computer models used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released in early 2007, the researchers who published in Science concluded that global warming could make droughts more common, not just in the American Southwest, but also in semiarid regions of southern Europe, Mediterranean northern Africa, and the Middle East.

The Renewable Energy Atlas (Atlas) of the UnitedStates is a compilation of geospatial data focused on renewable energy resources, federal land ownership, and base map reference information. It is designed for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) and other federal land management agencies to evaluate existing and proposed renewable energy projects. Much of the content of the Atlas was compiled at Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) to support recent and current energy-related Environmental Impact Statements and studies, including the following projects: (1) West-wide Energy Corridor Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) (BLM 2008); (2) Draft PEIS for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States (DOE/BLM 2010); (3) Supplement to the Draft PEIS for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States (DOE/BLM 2011); (4) Upper Great Plains Wind Energy PEIS (WAPA/USFWS 2012, in progress); and (5) Energy Transport Corridors: The Potential Role of Federal Lands in States Identified by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 368(b) (in progress). This report explains how to add the Atlas to your computer and install the associated software; describes each of the components of the Atlas; lists the Geographic Information System (GIS) database content and sources; and provides a brief introduction to the major renewable energy technologies.

Full Text Available Introduction of Eucalyptus spp. into the UnitedStates from Australia on a significant scale resulted from the gold rush into California in 1849. Numerous species were evaluated for fuel, wood products, and amenity purposes. The first recorded entry of eucalyptus into the southern UnitedStated was in 1878. Subsequent performance of selected species for ornamental purposes caused forest industry to visualize plantations for fiber production. That interest led the Florida Forestry Foundation to initiate species-introduction trials in 1959. The results were sufficiently promising that a contingent of forest products companies formed a cooperative to work with the USDA Forest Service, Lehigh Acres, FL, USA, on genetic improvement of selected species for fiber production. The Florida initiative caused other industrial forestry companies in the upper South to establish plantations regardless of the species or seed source. The result was invariably the same: failure. Bruce Zobel, Professor of Forestry, North Carolina State University, initiated a concerted effort to assess the potential worth of eucalyptus for plantation use. The joint industrial effort evaluated 569 sources representing 103 species over a 14-year period. The three levels of testing, screening, in-depth, and semioperational trials led to identification of some species and sources that offered promise for adaptation, but severe winter temperatures in late 1983 and early 1984 and 1985 terminated the project. Despite the failed attempt valuable silvicultural practices were ascertained that will be beneficial to other researchers and practitioners when attempts are again made to introduce the species complex into the US South.

Full Text Available Starting from the internationally adopted definition of sustainable forest management, this paper points to the demands of sustainable forest management that can be satisfied by meeting the definite assumptions. The first part presents the objectives of forest and woodland management planning and utilisation, hunting management, and protection of protected areas, as well as the all-inclusive compatible goals of forest policy in Serbia. The second part presents the analysis of the present state of forests in Serbia, in relation to the Pan-European criteria for the assessment of sustainability, and the potentials of our forests to meet all the demands.

Full Text Available Forest landowner cooperatives have emerged as a formal institution capable of fostering professional forest management. There are many reasons to motivate participation in forest cooperatives. For instance, cooperatives could ease nonindustrial family forest landowners (NIFFLs access to financial assistance and enhance market entrance opportunities. In China, various forms of forest cooperatives supported by government agencies are developing rapidly in an effort to facilitate forest management at a large scale. However, the development of forest cooperatives is still in its early stages. An understanding of NIFFLs' attitudes towards the development of cooperatives is instrumental for crafting policies and organizational structures that motivate landowners' participation. Three hundred and ten NIFFLs from Fujian and Jiangxi provinces in Southern China were interviewed to elicit their attitudes and willingness-to-participate in forest cooperatives. Logistic regression was used to evaluate landowner, household, forest resource, and institutional factors associated with NIFFLs' stated decision to participate in a forest cooperative. Results show that NIFFLs' stated willingness-to-participate in forest cooperatives was associated with demographic characteristics like education, forest-related income, size of forestland, and attitudes toward land tenure reform and cooperatives. This paper outlines suggestions on how to further develop forest cooperatives in Southern China.

Illustrates how Mexico and the UnitedStates represent two versions of Western civilization that are profoundly different from one another. Concludes that the UnitedStates has always ignored minorities in foreign and domestic policy. Suggests that, to conquer its enemies, the UnitedStates must first conquer its historical attitude toward…

Illustrates how Mexico and the UnitedStates represent two versions of Western civilization that are profoundly different from one another. Concludes that the UnitedStates has always ignored minorities in foreign and domestic policy. Suggests that, to conquer its enemies, the UnitedStates must first conquer its historical attitude toward…

Full Text Available The IEF-Asiflor forest incentive program is the result of a joint endeavor that channeled forest restoration funds to promote, according to effective legislation, silvicultural activity in Minas Gerais state. The above partnership was implemented in 2003. In this work we aimed to outline the incentive program per participating IEF administrative region, and to georeference and quantify implemented forest stands according to property size class. To that end, we searched data records of all producers benefiting from the program. We then compiled and processed the data, using ArcMap® application to georeference the rural properties making up the sample. The observations concerning number of assisted properties and area reforested in each property per administrative region was based on seven property size classes, according to the 1996 agricultural census classification of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE. The administrative unit showing the largest assisted area was Centro Norte regional office, with 3,872.25 ha, although Zona da Mata regional office had the largest number of benefiting producers, with 449 producers. Featured among the steel producing hubs concentrating the largest number of Asiflor member plants, Sete Lagoas had the largest reforested area, being closer to the actual plants. The most assisted property size class, both in quantity and in area reforested, was class B, except in Centro Norte regional office where Class E showed a larger area reforested.

Malaria in humans is caused by intraerythrocytic protozoa of the genus Plasmodium. These parasites are transmitted by the bite of an infective female Anopheles mosquito. The majority of malaria infections in the UnitedStates occur among persons who have traveled to regions with ongoing malaria transmission. However, malaria is occasionally acquired by persons who have not traveled out of the country through exposure to infected blood products, congenital transmission, laboratory exposure, or local mosquitoborne transmission. Malaria surveillance in the UnitedStates is conducted to identify episodes of local transmission and to guide prevention recommendations for travelers. This report summarizes cases in persons with onset of illness in 2014 and trends during previous years. Malaria cases diagnosed by blood film, polymerase chain reaction, or rapid diagnostic tests are reported to local and state health departments by health care providers or laboratory staff. Case investigations are conducted by local and state health departments, and reports are transmitted to CDC through the National Malaria Surveillance System, National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, or direct CDC consultations. CDC conducts antimalarial drug resistance marker testing on blood samples submitted by health care providers or local or state health departments. Data from these reporting systems serve as the basis for this report. CDC received reports of 1,724 confirmed malaria cases, including one congenital case and two cryptic cases, with onset of symptoms in 2014 among persons in the UnitedStates. The number of confirmed cases in 2014 is consistent with the number of confirmed cases reported in 2013 (n = 1,741; this number has been updated from a previous publication to account for delayed reporting for persons with symptom onset occurring in late 2013). Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae were identified in 66.1%, 13.3%, 5.2%, and 2.7% of cases, respectively

Presents activities on estimation, scaling, area of nonstandard shapes, algebraic thinking, and real-life situations using the UnitedStates of America. These activities make it possible to integrate mathematics and social studies. Uses technology by employing geometry software packages such as The Geometer's Sketchpad, Cabri, and Geometric…

Full Text Available The state and silvicultural demands in beech forests of northeast Serbia were studied in the economic regions of Severni Kučaj, Timok and Južni Kučaj, and in the region of the National Park Đerdap. The detailed analysis of stateforests was performed: representation of beech forests according to silvicultural form, origin, age structure, stand state and productivity Average volume in high beech forests of 218 m3 x ha–1 is for about 5% lower than the average in Serbia (207.2 m3 x ha–1, and it amounts to 87% of the optimal volume of beech forests in Serbia. Volume increment of 4.5 m3ha–1 is approximate to the average increment of high beech forests in Serbia, and it amounts to 75% of the optimal value. The average volume of coppice beech forests of 150 m3ha–1 is 60% of the optimal volume of beech forests in Serbia The age structure is unfavourable, because the percentage of well conserved mature stands is only about 8%. Unplanned regeneration has started on about 15% of the area. Middle-aged and maturing stands account for more than 3/4 of the total area (80%. Stand state of beech forests in this region can be assessed as close to unsatisfactory, if the criteria are conservation, origin, vitality, and also the health state Based on the above state, the concrete silvicultural demands for each silvicultural situation were determined and the silvicultural measures were proposed aiming at their rational utilisation and improvement of foreststate: measures aiming at the establishment of new, quality stands and measures aiming at the improvement of the state of existing forests.

Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — U.S. State Plane Zones (NAD 1927) represents the State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS) Zones for the 1927 North American Datum within UnitedStates.

Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — U.S. State Plane Zones (NAD 1983) represents the State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS) Zones for the 1983 North American Datum within UnitedStates.

... Order from the National Technical Information Service NCHS Death in the UnitedStates, 2011 Recommend on Facebook ... 2011 SOURCE: National Vital Statistics System, Mortality. Do death rates vary by state? States experience different mortality ...

Persistent changes in tree mortality rates can alter forest structure, composition, and ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration. Our analyses of longitudinal data from unmanaged old forests in the western UnitedStates showed that background (noncatastrophic) mortality rates have increased rapidly in recent decades, with doubling periods ranging from 17 to 29...

In 2012, focus groups were organized with individuals owning 20+ acres in the Lake States region of the UnitedStates (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) to discuss various issues related to forest carbon offsetting. Focus group participants consisted of landowners who had responded to an earlier mail-back survey (2010) on forest carbon offsets. Two focus groups were held per state with an average of eight participants each (49 total). While landowner participant types varied, overall convergence was reached on several key issues. In general, discussion results found that the current payment amounts offered for carbon credits are not likely, on their own, to encourage participation in carbon markets. Landowners are most interested in other benefits they can attain through carbon management (e.g., improved stand species mix, wildlife, and trails). Interestingly, landowner perceptions about the condition of their own forest land were most indicative of prospective interest in carbon management. Landowners who felt that their forest was currently in poor condition, or did not meet their forest ownership objectives, were most interested in participating. While the initial survey sought landowner opinions about carbon markets, a majority of focus group participants expressed interest in general carbon management as a means to achieve reduced property taxes.

Full Text Available Development of industrial plantation forest is a form of principal-agent relationship, in which the Ministry of Forestry as a principal gives utilization permit to the entrepreneur as an agent, known as the Forest Timber Product Exploitation Permit on Planted Forest. This utilization permit obtained by the agents is operationally conducted by other parties through a cooperative agreement. The purpose of this study is to obtain an information regarding to the state position in the development of industrial plantation forest. The study was conducted in Riau Province, using the constructivist paradigm with phenomenological method. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews to selected informants. Data were also obtained from the review of documents to complement the interview. Data analysis was conducted using property rights and principal agent theories. The phenomenon of multi-chain transfer of the management rights of plantation forest that occoured in the observed companies showed that the state was unable to effectively control to the forest plantation. The study recommends that state should issue regulation to decrease or stops further transfer of the management rights of plantation forest. However, further study needs to overcome the existing over accumulation of plantation forest in a few hands.Keywords: industrial plantation forest, property right, principal agent, the state position, authority

In the UnitedStates the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education determines the curriculum required for fellows in forensic psychiatry to become board certified as a subspecialist. Areas that must be covered during the one year fellowship include criminal issues, such as insanity; civil issues, such as tort law and Workers' Compensation; legal regulation of psychiatry, such as confidentiality and involuntary hospitalization; and correctional psychiatry issues, such as dual agency and prisoner's rights. Fellows are also expected to have knowledge about juvenile courts, the structure of the legal system, and child custody issues. In addition, fellows are required to analyze complex cases and write forensic reports which are well reasoned. Teaching methods include lectures, storytelling, use of video vignettes, and mock trials. Additional teaching methodologies include group supervision of fellows in their report writing and direct observation of giving testimony. During the year we see fellows evolve and shift their orientation from being an advocate for patients to perceiving their role as serving justice.

Convectively generated wind-storms occur over broad temporal and spatial scales; however, the more widespread and longer lived of these windstorms have been given the name "derecho." Utilizing an integrated derecho database, including 377 events from 1986 to 2003, this investigation reveals the amount of insured property losses, fatalities, and injuries associated with these windstorms in the UnitedStates. Individual derechos have been responsible for up to 8 fatalities, 204 injuries, forest blow-downs affecting over 3,000 km2 of timber, and estimated insured losses of nearly a $500 million. Findings illustrate that derecho fatalities occur more frequently in vehicles or while boating, while injuries are more likely to happen in vehicles or mobile homes. Both fatalities and injuries are most common outside the region with the highest derecho frequency. An underlying synthesis of both physical and social vulnerabilities is suggested as the cause of the unexpected casualty distribution. In addition, casualty statistics and damage estimates from hurricanes and tornadoes are contrasted with those from derechos to emphasize that derechos can be as hazardous as many tornadoes and hurricanes.

targets for worldwide reduction or elimination of the cultiva- tion, production, and commercial-scale import of cocaine, opium, heroin, mari- juana ...international sanctions against state sponsors of terrorism and urges their strict enforcement. State presses state spon- sors to abandon their support for

Full Text Available The era of optimism which prevailed in the UnitedStates since the Korean War, came to an abrupt end after the debacle in Vietnam. By the end of the Seventies the UnitedStates was no longer the dominant military power. American foreign policy lacked consistence, coherence and a strategic sense. The UnitedStates became indecisive. Under these circumstances the Soviet Union successfully enforced its imperialistic designs upon countries far from its shores.

... records to the National Archives of the UnitedStates? 1235.12 Section 1235.12 Parks, Forests, and Public... NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITEDSTATES General Transfer Requirements § 1235.12 When must agencies transfer records to the National Archives of the UnitedStates? Permanent records must be transferred to...

... National Archives of the UnitedStates be used? 1235.30 Section 1235.30 Parks, Forests, and Public Property... ARCHIVES OF THE UNITEDSTATES Administration of Transferred Records § 1235.30 How may records in the National Archives of the UnitedStates be used? (a) NARA will enforce restrictions that are consistent...

... records to the National Archives of the UnitedStates? 1235.18 Section 1235.18 Parks, Forests, and Public... NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITEDSTATES General Transfer Requirements § 1235.18 How do agencies transfer records to the National Archives of the UnitedStates? Agencies transfer records by submitting a signed...

... transfer to the National Archives of the UnitedStates? 1235.10 Section 1235.10 Parks, Forests, and Public... NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITEDSTATES General Transfer Requirements § 1235.10 What records do agencies transfer to the National Archives of the UnitedStates? Agencies must transfer to the National Archives......

Since 1969, CDC has conducted abortion surveillance to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions in the UnitedStates. 2013. Each year, CDC requests abortion data from the central health agencies of 52 reporting areas (the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City). The reporting areas provide this information voluntarily. For 2013, data were received from 49 reporting areas. For trend analysis, abortion data were evaluated from 47 areas that reported data every year during 2004-2013. Census and natality data, respectively, were used to calculate abortion rates (number of abortions per 1,000 women) and ratios (number of abortions per 1,000 live births). A total of 664,435 abortions were reported to CDC for 2013. Of these abortions, 98.2% were from the 47 reporting areas that provided data every year during 2004-2013. Among these 47 reporting areas, the abortion rate for 2013 was 12.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years, and the abortion ratio was 200 abortions per 1,000 live births. From 2012 to 2013, the total number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions decreased 5%. From 2004 to 2013, the total number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions decreased 20%, 21%, and 17%, respectively. In 2013, all three measures reached their lowest level for the entire period of analysis (2004-2013). In 2013 and throughout the period of analysis, women in their 20s accounted for the majority of abortions and had the highest abortion rates; women in their 30s and older accounted for a much smaller percentage of abortions and had lower abortion rates. In 2013, women aged 20-24 and 25-29 years accounted for 32.7% and 25.9% of all abortions, respectively, and had abortion rates of 21.8 and 18.2 abortions per 1,000 women aged 20-24 and 25-29 years, respectively. In contrast, women aged 30-34, 35-39, and ≥40 years accounted for 16.8%, 9.2%, and 3.6% of all abortions, respectively, and had abortion rates of 11.8, 7.0, and 2

Since 1969, CDC has conducted abortion surveillance to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions in the UnitedStates. 2012. Each year, CDC requests abortion data from the central health agencies of 52 reporting areas (the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City). The reporting areas provide this information voluntarily. For 2012, data were received from 49 reporting areas. For trend analysis, abortion data were evaluated from 47 areas that reported data every year during 2003-2012. Census and natality data, respectively, were used to calculate abortion rates (number of abortions per 1,000 women) and ratios (number of abortions per 1,000 live births). A total of 699,202 abortions were reported to CDC for 2012. Of these abortions, 98.4% were from the 47 reporting areas that provided data every year during 2003-2012. Among these same 47 reporting areas, the abortion rate for 2012 was 13.2 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years, and the abortion ratio was 210 abortions per 1,000 live births. From 2011 to 2012, the total number and ratio of reported abortions decreased 4% and the abortion rate decreased 5%. From 2003 to 2012, the total number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions decreased 17%, 18%, and 14%, respectively, and reached their lowest level in 2012 for the entire period of analysis (2003-2012). In 2012 and throughout the period of analysis, women in their 20s accounted for the majority of abortions and had the highest abortion rates; women in their 30s and older accounted for a much smaller percentage of abortions and had lower abortion rates. In 2012, women aged 20-24 and 25-29 years accounted for 32.8% and 25.4% of all abortions, respectively, and had abortion rates of 23.3 and 18.9 abortions per 1,000 women aged 20-24 and 25-29 years, respectively. In contrast, women aged 30-34, 35-39, and ≥40 years accounted for 16.4%, 9.1%, and 3.7% of all abortions, respectively, and had abortion rates of

Full Text Available Development of industrial plantation forest is a form of principal-agent relationship, in which the Ministry of Forestry as a principal gives utilization permit to the entrepreneur as an agent, known as the Forest Timber Product Exploitation Permit on Planted Forest. This utilization permit obtained by the agents is operationally conducted by other parties through a cooperative agreement. The purpose of this study is to obtain an information regarding to the state position in the development of industrial plantation forest. The study was conducted in Riau Province, using the constructivist paradigm with phenomenological method. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews to selected informants. Data were also obtained from the review of documents to complement the interview. Data analysis was conducted using property rights and principal agent theories. The phenomenon of multi-chain transfer of the management rights of plantation forest that occoured in the observed companies showed that the state was unable to effectively control to the forest plantation. The study recommends that state should issue regulation to decrease or stops further transfer of the management rights of plantation forest. However, further study needs to overcome the existing over accumulation of plantation forest in a few hands.

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the USDA Forest Service is charged with documenting the status and trends of forest resources of the UnitedStates. Since the 1930s, FIA has implemented an intensive field campaign that collects measurements on plots distributed across all ownerships, historically completing analyses which include estimates of forest area, volume, mortality, growth, removals, and timber products output in various ways, such as by ownership, region, or State. Originally a periodic inventory, FIA has been measuring plots on an annual basis since the passage of the Agriculture Research, Extension and Education Reform Act of 1998 (Farm Bill). The resulting change in sampling design and intensity presents challenges to establishing baseline and measuring changes in forest area and biomass. A project jointly sponsored by the Forest Service and the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) titled “Integrating Landscape-scale Forest Measurements with Remote Sensing and Ecosystem Models to Improve Carbon Management Decisions” seeks to improve estimates of landscape- and continental-scale carbon dynamics and causes of change for North American forest land, and to use this information to support land management decisions. Specifically, we are developing and applying methods to scale up intensive biomass and carbon measurements from the field campaign to larger land management areas while simultaneously estimating change in the above-ground forest carbon stocks; the State of Wisconsin is being used as the testbed for this large-scale integration remote sensing with field measurements. Once defined, the temporal and spatial patterns of forest resources by watershed for Lake Superior and Lake Michigan outputs are being integrated into water quality assessments for the Great Lakes.

current government approach to the economy , then examining the current projections for UnitedStates’ spending from 2009 through 2019 and examining...manner and thereby strengthen the economy of the UnitedStates, this paper concludes with three examples that are predicated on the synergistic benefits associated with small reforms.

17 March 2005. 2 Homero Aridjis, "Survival of Indigenous Cultures in Mexico," 9 April 1998; available from <http://www.klys.se/worldconference/papers...HomeroAridjis.htm>;Internet; accessed 21 November 2004. 3Tania Carrasco, "Indigenous Peoples in the States of Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca ," 2005...analysis by the State representatives from Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca (3 Southern States). The plan reviewed possible options to reduce poverty and

Full Text Available This study aimed to determine thoughts and views of stakeholders regarding the forest resources and management in Turkish Forestry. Maçka StateForest Enterprise under Trabzon Forest Regional Directorate was chosen as research area. Six different groups involving urban, rural, managerial, industrial, and recreational stakeholders as well as non-governmental organizations were determined. Interview and public survey methods and Khi-square test were used to attain the aim of the study. The main results were that the forest enterprise was perceived as the rich one with regard to forest existence and, it was put forward pessimistic though for forest future in the forest enterprise and, non-wood forest values were seen more important than the wood values by the stakeholders. The results of the study taken into account in forest resource planning would provide a contribution to sustainable forest resources management for the Maçka StateForest Enterprise.

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This map layer portrays the State boundaries of the UnitedStates, and the boundaries of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The map layer was created by...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Numbered series of NOAA publications that contain environmental information climate summaries and station normals. Each series contains a volume for each state,...

Full Text Available The primary network of forest roads consists of public and forest truck roads. Public roads in one forest area have been mainly built due to needs of local communities, access to rural areas, the development of tourism, recreation and so on. Forest truck roads have been built and maintained by those who manage forests (the forest management, while public roads have been managed by the Directorate for Roads of the Federation of B&H and cantonal and local governments. In the last twenty years, the sector for wood assortments transport in the Federation of B&H is in charge of the private transport operators which use vehicles of large capacities and high axle loads for the purpose of transport of as large as possible quantities of wooden mass per time unit. Due to this fact, the roads have deteriorated faster. The accelerated deterioration of the roads used for the transport of wooden assortments imposes the need for the allocation of larger funds for their maintenance. Due to the increasing damages on the roads the prohibitions of use of some public roads for wooden assortments transport occur more frequently. The aim of the research is to determine the total length of public roads which open Forest Management Units of Sarajevo Canton (FMU of SC and to investigate the possibility of using these categories of roads for forestry. For examination and analysis possibilities of using public roads for wooden assortments transport qualitative research - polls methods have been applied within the framework of the key representatives of the target groups such as forestry and the local community. In the questionnaire, two sets of questions were specified, the first one which is designed to determine the possible existence of problems of using public roads for transport of wooden assortments and possible causes of occurrence of the problems. The second group of questions gives some of the possible solutions for solving the problems of using public roads for

Full Text Available The Pinega Natural State Reserve is located in the Arkhangelsk Province in the northern taiga subzone. Spruce forests represent the dominant vegetation formation of its territory. The vegetation of this forest is classified, based on 192 phytosociological descriptions. It reveals 12 associations, which represent 7 groups of associations. Detailed characteristics of these syntaxa, including analysis of their biodiversity, are provided. The revealed syntaxa differ both in species composition and environmental conditions: moisture, nutrition, nitrogen availability and acidity. Most poor conditions in terms of mineral nutrition occupy sphagnous spruce forests and bilberry-dominated spruce forests, while under the richest conditions varioherbaceous, humidoherbaceous and nemoral-herbaceous spruce forests occur. The Pinega Reserve is the only locality, where the Piceetum rubo saxatilis-vacciniosum association occurs in the northern taiga subzone.

Full Text Available Stateforest inventory (SFI is a forest investigation that was not performed earlier in our country. Its purpose is to identify total forest area characteristics including wood volume in Russia. There are several papers about the existence of huge differences between actual forest management and SFI data. Nevertheless, at the Russian forest management committee of NFI data performed in Bryansk in 2013 it was still decided to use SFI data. The reasons for existence of differences in land category and forest formation were revealed on the basis of the two examples in Krasnoyarsk Territory Angara river region. The amount of sample items was 340. We compared the sample plots and compartment in order to identify the characteristics of differences between NFI data and forest management materials. We performed physical observation of sample plots and compartments of forest stands and relief maps in order to identify the potential differences. Reconciliation of sample plots of SFI data and compartment showed significant mistakes due to inhomogeneous structure of compartments and some forest management decision for third category. However, these issues do not influence on differences. Systematic errors occur because of SFI methodology peculiarities. This is the main reason for differences between traditional forest management and SFI data. These errors should be improved. The main conclusion made during the performed work is to refuse from stratification of total forest area characteristics at the planning stage of choosing the sample plots. The relief and soil hydrological characteristics should be taken into consideration in a stratification analysis. Sample plots location should be chosen based on the landscape peculiarities, far from the pathway, that will allow elimination of the systematic errors.

Degradation and substantial losses to India`s forests have prompted a change in existing forestry management strategy. The new approach includes recognition of local participation in forestry management schemes but state control over most decisions is still dominant. Seen in terms of a common property resource system, India`s forests lack many of the factors usually considered inherent to successful management programs. Though India`s latest Forest Act affords more local involvement in forestry management, there continues to be an apparent lack of rights for local management groups over decision-making and the resource itself. Can this system enable the required balance between state and local management of India`s forests? 24 refs, 1 tab

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The 2010 UnitedStates Automatic Identification System Database contains vessel traffic data for planning purposes within the U.S. coastal waters. The database is...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — Mineral facilities and operations outside the UnitedStates compiled by the National Minerals Information Center of the USGS. This representation combines source...

@@ Beijing Petroleum Machinery Plant(BPM) of CNPC and Rowan Drilling Company Inc, one of the most powerful drilling service and driller manufacturing companies in the UnitedStates signed a petroleum equipment contract on December 9 in Beijing.

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — Rest areas in the western UnitedStates. Data was collected from various data sources including georeferenced locations obtained from other agencies, digitizied...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory displays high-accuracy topographic and bathymetric data for the UnitedStates and its territories. The project is a...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — Agricultural land cover for the western UnitedStates. This dataset was developed from Sagestitch, the Eastern Washington Shrubsteppe Mapping Project, and several...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — Hydrologic landscape regions (HLRs) in the UnitedStates were delineated by using geographic information system (GIS) tools and statistical methods including...

UnitedStates both militarily and by setting the terms of trade. While cultural and ideological affinities with European democra- cies played...military establishments (Japan, Russia, India, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia , Malaysia, Singapore) can check possible military expansion when

... in Children Treatment Vaccines Statistics Related Links TB in Children in the UnitedStates TB disease in children under ... person with infectious TB disease. Testing for TB in Children In the absence of symptoms, usually the ...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The 2014 UnitedStates Automatic Identification System Database contains vessel traffic data for planning purposes within the U.S. coastal waters. The database is...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The 2009 UnitedStates Automatic Identification System Database contains vessel traffic data for planning purposes within the U.S. coastal waters. The database is...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The 2011 UnitedStates Automatic Identification System Database contains vessel traffic data for planning purposes within the U.S. coastal waters. The database is...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The 2012 UnitedStates Automatic Identification System Database contains vessel traffic data for planning purposes within the U.S. coastal waters. The database is...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) modeled the distribution of terrestrial ecosystems for the contiguous UnitedStates using a standardized, deductive approach to...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — We evaluated the fragmentation of the western UnitedStates by anthropogenic features. The addition of roads, railroads, and power lines to wildlands, and the...

This teachers guide attempts to facilitate the study of the UnitedStates through a conceptual approach and multimedia instruction in a spiral curriculum. There are five units: 1) Natural Setting --location, climate, terrain, water, soil, and economic and esthetic value, and conservation; 2) Historial Development --North American Indian cultures,…

This dissertation is about how political parties formed in the world's first mass democracy, the UnitedStates. I trace the process of party formation from the bottom up. First, I ask: How do individuals become engaged in politics and develop political affiliations? In most states, throughout the antebellum era, the county was the primary unit of political administration and electoral representation. Owing to their small size, contiguity, and economic homogeneity, I expect that each county's ...

May 2007 was a record-setting month in Georgia. Typically a dry month in this southern state, May 2007 was exceptionally so, with many locations setting record-low rainfall records and some receiving no rain at all, said state climatologist David Emory Stooksbury on GeorgiaDrought.org. The lack of rain slowed plant growth, as shown in this vegetation index image. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite collected the data used to make this image between May 9 and May 24, 2007. The image shows vegetation conditions compared to average conditions observed from 2000 through 2006. Areas in which plants are more sparse or are growing more slowly than average are brown, while better-than-average growth is green. Georgia and its neighbors (South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida) are all brown, an indication that the lack of rainfall is suppressing plant growth. The gray area in southern Georgia and northern Florida shows where MODIS could not collect valid vegetation measurements, either because of clouds or smoke. In this case, the area corresponds with land that burned during this period and was probably masked by smoke. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided by Inbal Reshef, Global Agricultural Monitoring Project.

Full Text Available Fire-adapted forests of the Lake States region are poorly studied relative to those of the western and southeastern UnitedStates and our knowledge base of regional short- and long-term fire effects on soils is limited. We compiled and assessed the body of literature addressing fire effects on soils in Lake Statesforests to facilitate the re-measurement of previous studies for the development of new long-term datasets, and to identify existing gaps in the regional knowledge of fire effects on forest soils. Most studies reviewed addressed fire effects on chemical properties in pine-dominated forests, and long-term (>10 years studies were limited. The major gaps in knowledge we identified include: (1 information on fire temperature and behavior information that would enhance interpretation of fire effects; (2 underrepresentation of the variety of forest types in the Lake States region; (3 information on nutrient fluxes and ecosystem processes; and (4 fire effects on soil organisms. Resolving these knowledge gaps via future research will provide for a more comprehensive understanding of fire effects in Lake Statesforest soils. Advancing the understanding of fire effects on soil processes and patterns in Lake Statesforests is critical for designing regionally appropriate long-term forest planning and management activities.

... of StateForesters and the Advertising Council. 271.8 Section 271.8 Parks, Forests, and Public... Association of StateForesters and the Advertising Council. These regulations in this part have been issued after consultation with the Association of StateForesters and the Advertising Council....

A flow chart depicting energy flow in the transportation sector of the UnitedStates economy in 2005 has been constructed from publicly available data and estimates of national energy use patterns. Approximately 31,000 trillion British Thermal Units (trBTUs) of energy were used throughout the UnitedStates in transportation activities. Vehicles used in these activities include automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, airplanes, rail, and ships. The transportation sector is powered primarily by petroleum-derived fuels (gasoline, diesel and jet fuel). Biomass-derived fuels, electricity and natural gas-derived fuels are also used. The flow patterns represent a comprehensive systems view of energy used within the transportation sector.

Forest Health and Monitoring (FHM) and Palmer's Drought Severity Index (PDSI) data were obtained for 11 states in the southeastern UnitedStates to assess the relationship between drought and crown dieback. Correlation analyses were performed at the species group and ecoregion levels within the study area. The results indicate a negative correlation between...

The UnitedStates Department of Agriculture Forest Service (Forest Service) manages 154 national forests and 20 grasslands in 44 states and Puerto Rico. National Forest Land and Resource Management Plans (forest plans) form the basis for land and resource management of national forests in the UnitedStates. For more than a decade the Forest Service has been attempting...

Three new species of Leohumicola (anamorphic Leotiomycetes) are described using morphological characters and phylogenetic analyses of DNA barcodes. Leohumicola levissima and L. atra were isolated from soils collected after forest fires in Crater Lake National Park, UnitedStates. Leohumicola incrust

Inhalation anthrax occurred in a man who vacationed in 4 US states where anthrax is enzootic. Despite an extensive multi-agency investigation, the specific source was not detected, and no additional related human or animal cases were found. Although rare, inhalation anthrax can occur naturally in the UnitedStates.

Full Text Available The article analyzes the development of voluntary forest certification by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC system in Russia. The article is based on the review of diverse information sources, analysis of the reports of timber processing enterprises, personal observations during certification audits, discussions in workgroups, and information collected at training courses. We evaluated the present state of voluntary forest certification in Russia, analyzed non-compliances of the activity of Russian wood processing enterprises with the national standard FSC-STD-RUS-V6-1-2012 and indicated possible reasons for non-fulfillment of the requirements. We also presented problems in the development of forest certification in Russia and possible ways for its further development.

This paper summarizes the application of a land classification system developed by the senior author to the Standing Stone StateForest and State Park (SSSF&SP) on the Eastern Highland Rim. Landtypes are the most detailed level in the hierarchical system and represent distinct units of the landscape (mapped at a scale of 1:24,000) as defined by climate, geology,...

glass fiber. The light signals are then decoded at the end of the fiber by a special optic decoder /encoder. This allows for the light signal to be...CDMA technology while Cingular offers it through the HSDPA/ GSM technology. One quarter of the United States’ Internet users have a cell phone that...well Cingular 900 Kbps 100 Kbps $79.00 HSDPA/ GSM 1 yr contract Table 13. Unlimited Cellular Broadband Plans in the UnitedStates (From PCWorld.com

Crushed stone and sand and gravel are the two main sources of natural aggregates. These materials are commonly used construction materials and frequently can be interchanged with one another. They are widely used throughout the UnitedStates, with every State except two producing crushed stone. Together they amount to about half the mining volume in the UnitedStates. Approximately 96 percent of sand and gravel and 77 percent of the crushed stone produced in the UnitedStates are used in the construction industry. Natural aggregates are widely distributed throughout the UnitedStates in a variety of geologic environments. Sand and gravel deposits commonly are the results of the weathering of bedrock and subsequent transportation and deposition of the material by water or ice (glaciers). As such, they commonly occur as river or stream deposits or in glaciated areas as glaciofluvial and other deposits. Crushed stone aggregates are derived from a wide variety of parent bedrock materials. Limestone and other carbonates account for approximately three quarters of the rocks used for crushed stone, with granite and other igneous rocks making up the bulk of the remainder. Limestone deposits are widespread throughout the Central and Eastern UnitedStates and are scattered in the West. Granites are widely distributed in the Eastern and Western UnitedStates, with few exposures in the Midwest. Igneous rocks (excluding granites) are largely concentrated in the Western UnitedStates and in a few isolated localities in the East. Even though natural aggregates are widely distributed throughout the UnitedStates, they are not universally available for consumptive use. Some areas are devoid of sand and gravel, and potential sources of crushed stone may be covered with sufficient unconsolidated material to make surface mining impractical. In some areas many aggregates do not meet the physical property requirements for certain uses, or they may contain mineral constituents that react

Full Text Available Within the policy adoption process of Forest Management Unit (FMU concept, there has been disagreement of stakeholders on FMUs concept. This disagreement is caused by the exchange of knowledge, information, and perception among stakeholders involved. The results of these interactions could speed up, slow down, and prevent the adoption process of FMU policy. The study objective was analyzing process of knowledge diffusion of FMUs development policy and stakeholders interaction in PFMU Batutegi and PFMU Kotaagung Utara, Indonesia. Adoption process was analyzed by the logical diffusion technique based on knowledge time of FMUs concept received and its interaction space. Social interaction among stakeholders was analyzed using method developed by International Development Studies analysis, i.e. interaction among discourse/narrative, actors/networks and politics/interests. The results showed that knowledge diffusion of FMUs concept in both PFMU tends to cascade diffusion. Factors was affecting of it process were network, role of opinion leaders, willingness to know, and understand on FMUs concept. Indicative strategy is needed as anticipating and overcoming an obstacle in its internalization process, i.e. harmonization of legislative and executive relationship, building an opinion the importance of FMU, and optimalizing network for bureaucratic problems.

The topic of modern-day slavery or human trafficking has received increased media and national attention. However, to date there has been limited research on the nature and scope of human trafficking in the UnitedStates. This article describes and synthesizes nine reports that assess the U.S. service organizations' legal representative knowledge of, and experience with, human trafficking cases, as well as information from actual cases and media reports. This article has five main goals: (a) to define what human trafficking is, and is not; (b) to describe factors identified as contributing to vulnerability to being trafficked and keeping a person entrapped in the situation; (c) to examine how the crime of human trafficking differs from other kinds of crimes in the UnitedStates; (d) to explore how human trafficking victims are identified; and, (e) to provide recommendations to better address human trafficking in the UnitedStates.

We review a current state of a forest type mapping with Landsat data in Siberia. Target algorithm should be based on dynamic vegetation approach to be applicable to the analysis of the forest type distribution for Siberia, aiming at capability of mapping Siberian forest landscapes for applications such as predicting response of forest composition to climate change. We present data for several areas in West Siberian middle taiga, Central Siberia and East Siberia near Yakutsk. Analysis of the field survey, forest inventory data was made to produce forest type classification accounting for several stages for forest succession and variations in habitats and landforms. Supervised classification was applied to the areas were the ground truth and inventory data are available, including several limited area maps and vegetation survey transects. In Laryegan basin in West Siberia the upland forest areas are dominated by mix of Scots pine on sandy soils and Siberian pine with presence of fir and spruce on the others. Abundance of Scots pine decreases to the west due to change in soils. Those types are separable using Landsat spectral data. In the permafrost area around Yakutsk the most widespread succession type is birch to larch. Three stages of the birch to larch succession are detectable from Landsat image. When Landsat data is used in both West and East Siberia, distinction between deciduous broad-leaved species (birch, aspen, and willow) is generally difficult. Similar problem exist for distinguishing between dark coniferous species (Siberian pine, fir and spruce). Image classification can be improved by applying landform type analysis, such as separation into floodplain, terrace, sloping hills. Additional layers of information can be a promising way to complement Landsat data.

The paper analyzes the management system reforms of state-owned forest in Hessen State of Germany based on the forestry situation, and draws conclusions which can be used for reference in management system reform of state-owned forest in China. The results are as follows: stepwise reform is the mode, ecology-centeredness is the principle, transparent property right is the precondition, detached function of government and forest industry groups is the key, and integrated law and regulation system is the guar...

@@ The Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao chaired a State Council executive meeting on July 9th to review and approve in principle"the Plan Outline for National Forest Land Protection and Utilization(2010-2020)"(hereinafter referred to as"the Plan Outline").

Ethnocentrism is a problem. Pakistan lost Bangladesh in its 1971 civil war in part because West Pakistanis viewed Bengalis, who are the dominant ethnic...137. 64 Pakistan: Can the UnitedStates Secure an Insecure State? in the last few years of rapid growth, consumer price inflation surged to 25

Canopy and surface fuels in many fire-prone forests of the UnitedStates have increased over the last 70 years as a result of modern fire exclusion policies, grazing, and other land management activities. The Healthy Forest Restoration Act and National Fire Plan establish a national commitment to reduce fire hazard and restore fire-adapted ecosystems across the USA....

Full Text Available You might think that by definition the migrant labor plays in less profitable niches and meager social mobility. However, a large group of migrants in different economically developed countries have successfully launched businesses of diverse nature and volume. This is why entrepreneurship of migrants is an issue that has received increasing attention in recent years. Compared to other immigrant groups in the UnitedStates, Mexicans show low levels of entrepreneurial activity. The aim of this paper is to, through a general literature review of official statistical data, a preliminary analysis of mexican migrant entrepreneurship in the UnitedStates, that is to say in recent years has been growing in importance.

Monitoring forest cover change and understanding the dynamic of forest cover is increasingly important in sustainable development and management of forest ecosystems. This paper uses remote sensing (RS) techniques to monitor forest cover change in Maçka StateForest Enterprise (MSFE) located in NE of Turkey through 1975 to 2000 and then analyses spatial and temporal changes in forest cover by Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and FRAGSTATStrade mark. Forest cover changes were detected from a time series of satellite images of Landsat MSS in 1975, Landsat TM in 1987, and Landsat ETM+ in 2000 using RS and GIS. The results showed that total forest area, productive forest area and degraded forest area increased while broadleaf forest area and non forest area decreased. Mixed forest and degraded forest increased during the first (1975-1987) period, but decreased during the second (1987-2000) period. During the whole study period, the annual forestation rate was 152 ha year(-1), equivalent to 0.27% year(-1) using the compound-interest-rate formula. The total number of patches increased from 36,204 to 48,092 (33%), and mean size of forest patch (MPS) decreased from 2.8 ha to 2.1 ha during a 25 year period. Number of smaller patches (patches in 0-100 ha size class) increased, indicating more fragmented landscape over time that might create a risk for the maintenance of biodiversity of the area. While total population increased from 1975 to 2000 (3.7%), rural population constantly decreased. The increase of forest areas may well be explained by the fact that demographic movement of rural areas concentrated into Maçka City Center. These figures also indicated that decrease in the rural population might likely lead to the release of human pressure to forest areas, probably resulting in a positive development of forest areas.

Europe and reducing the number of military personnel by 40,000 to 60,000. According to UnitedStates Air Force General Charles Wald , there are...The Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz is quoted as saying UnitedStates presence “…may be more political than actually military” and that

Flow charts depicting water use in the UnitedStates have been constructed from publicly available data and estimates of water use patterns. Approximately 410,500 million gallons per day of water are managed throughout the UnitedStates for use in farming, power production, residential, commercial, and industrial applications. Water is obtained from four major resource classes: fresh surface-water, saline (ocean) surface-water, fresh groundwater and saline (brackish) groundwater. Water that is not consumed or evaporated during its use is returned to surface bodies of water. The flow patterns are represented in a compact 'visual atlas' of 52 state-level (all 50 states in addition to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands) and one national water flow chart representing a comprehensive systems view of national water resources, use, and disposition.

states of North Africa and the Middle East.5 Eurabia was the name of a journal published in the mid-1970s by the European Committee for...have her extradited to Switzerland so she could be prosecuted under Swiss anti- racism statute, Islamic groups successfully prevailed to have her...options. The UnitedStates can forge new relationships with emerging powers such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, the so called BRIC countries

This paper presents the pattern and changes of fragmented forest in relation with changes of total forest cover in the state of Selangor in three decades.In this study, inventoried forest cover maps of Selangor in 1971/1972, 1981/1982 and 1991/1992 produced by the Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia were digitized to examine the changes in area and number of fragmented forest.Results showed that in 1971/ 1972, 16 fragmented forests were identified in Selangor.All fragmented forests were identified as dipterocarp forest.A decade later the number of fragmented forests increased by approximately 44% (23).Of the 23 fragmented forests, two were peat swamp forests whereas the remaining were dipterocarp forests.In 1991/1992 the number of fragmented forests (12) was reduced by 47.8%.Two of the fragmented forests were identified as peat swamp forest, seven dipterocarp forest and the other three was mixed of dipterocarp forests and plantation forests.Fragmentation of both dipterocarp and peat swamp forests occurred profoundly during the period between 1971/1972 and 1981/1982, which consequently increased the number of fragmented forests compared with before the period of 1971/1972 where fragmentation happened only at dipterocarp forests.However, many fragmented forests vanished between the 1981/1982 and 1991/1992 periods.

The southeastern UnitedStates is one of the most rapidly growing human population regions in continental UnitedStates, and as the population increases, the demand for commercial, industrial, and residential water will also increase (USWRC, 1978). Forest species type, stand age, and the climate all influence the amount of water use and yield from these areas (Swank et...

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This dataset represents the characterization of global forest extent and change by year from 2001 through 2013 within individual local NHDPlusV2 catchments and...

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This dataset represents the characterization of global forest extent and change by year from 2001 through 2013 within individual local NHDPlusV2 catchments and...

In 1937,Zhang Ying studied at the Lu Xun Art Institute in Yan’an.After graduation she began working in the art world under Zhou Enlai’s direction.In 1983, she followed her husband Zhang Wenjin to the UnitedStates as wife of the ambassador.During her two-year stay in the U.S., she came into close contact with many American women while working to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries.After her retirement in 1991,she sponsored the production of a 10-episode documentary TV program,"Zhou Enlai and the Arts."She also wrote a book about her experience in the UnitedStates,Called,Following Zhang Wenjin to the United States—Notes of an Ambassador’s Wife.The following are extracts from the book.

This report discusses the management and security of nuclear weapons in the post-cold war UnitedStates. The definition of what constitutes security is clearly changing in the US. It is now a much more integrated view that includes defense and the economy. The author tries to bring some semblance of order to these themes in this brief adaptation of a presentation.

Multilocus DNA sequence data was used to retrospectively assess the genetic diversity and evolutionary relationships of 67 Fusarium strains from veterinary sources, most of which were from the UnitedStates. Molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed that the strains comprised 23 phylogenetically dist...

The results are presented of the UnitedStates experiments activity to date. Wide segments of the population are involved in the Experiments Program including the scientific community, other government agencies, industry, and the education and health entities. The experiments are associated with both technological objectives and the demonstration of new community and social services via satellite.

Presented are prevalence data on color vision deficiencies (color blindness) in noninstitutionalized children, aged 6-11, in the UnitedStates, as estimated from the Health Examination Survey findings on a representative sample of over 7,400 children. Described are the two color vision tests used in the survey, the Ishihara Test for Color…

Purpose: Although caregivers desire specific information about hospice programs, there is little descriptive information available. We characterized agencies that provide formal or informal hospice care in the UnitedStates according to four types of services considered important by caregivers: medications and treatments; rehabilitative care;…

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This map layer shows major ports in the UnitedStates, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A port is a city, town, or urban area with a harbor where ships load...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This is a polygon coverage of major land uses in the UnitedStates. The source of the coverage is the map of major land uses in the National Atlas, pages 158-159,...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This map layer includes airports in the UnitedStates, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The data were derived from an extract of the Public-Use Airports...

This project is one of four that were issued to first semester sophomore undergraduates at the UnitedStates Military Academy as part of an integrated learning experience at the end of their Calculus II course work. This project was used during a short, seven lesson block of instruction that was intended to capitalize on their recent academic…

The history of orienteering in the UnitedStates includes both military and civilian interest, with the period of greatest growth between 1970 and 1980. To investigate growth patterns in orienteering, questionnaires were mailed to 42 civilian orienteering clubs and 286 universities supporting senior Reserve Office Training Corps (ROTC)…

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almost totally unproductive ceremony and haggling with the Cochinchinese authorities. During his stay there, White developed an appreciation of the...British and French involvement with the warring sides in the UnitedStates and with French adventures in Mexico , not with events in far-off

The rising number of acres burned annually and growing number of people living in or adjacent to fire-prone areas in the UnitedStates make wildfire management an increasingly complex and challenging problem. Given the prominence of social issues in shaping the current challenges and determining paths forward, it will be important to have an accurate understanding of...

As citizens of the UnitedStates respond to legislative and judicial actions that have challenged the prohibition against same-sex couples receiving marriage licenses, schools have a timely opportunity to engage students on this most important debate. Educators can help their students understand the full significance of this issue by encouraging…

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — A digital version of the Geologic Map of the UnitedStates, originally published at a scale of 1:2,500,000 (King and Beikman, 1974b). It excludes Alaska and Hawaii.

Fincher & Thornhill (F&T) present a powerful case for the relationship between parasite-stress and religiosity. We argue, however, that the UnitedStates may be more religious than can be accounted for by parasite-stress. This greater religiosity might be attributable to greater sensitivity to immigration, which may hyperactivate evolved mechanisms that motivate avoidance of potential carriers of novel parasites.

The purpose of this presentation was to: (1) describe the history of women's music in the UnitedStates; (2) define women's music; (3) report on the status of the large women's recording companies; and (4) focus on a recent controversy in the women's music industry involving the desire for political purity versus the need for economic security.…

THE discussion of nursing continuing education in the UnitedStates is approached by a consideration of the following aspects: Definition and Background Evolution of the Concept Administration of the Process Teaching Techniques Range of Subjects Evaluation of the Program Issues and Problems: Mandatory vs. Voluntary Participation Control of the Accreditation Process Responsibility for Participation Program Cost/Availability

Full Text Available THE discussion of nursing continuing education in the UnitedStates is approached by a consideration of the following aspects: Definition and Background Evolution of the Concept Administration of the Process Teaching Techniques Range of Subjects Evaluation of the Program Issues and Problems: Mandatory vs. Voluntary Participation Control of the Accreditation Process Responsibility for Participation Program Cost/Availability

Dr. Amesh Adalja, an associate at the Center for Biosecurity and clinical assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School, of Medicine, discusses dengue fever outbreaks in the UnitedStates. Created: 4/9/2012 by National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID). Date Released: 4/16/2012.

Forest practice regulations can be established by being specified in state law or by being promulgated by some other official body delegated the authority to do so. At the state level, public regulation of private forest practices resulted in many cases, in the enactment of stateforest practice laws regulating both private, and in some cases, public landowner activities. These laws aim not only to protect natural environments, but also to encourage continuous productivity of forest lands, to maintain or enhance aesthetic values, and to serve as an implementing mechanism to control water pollution. Profiles of regulations in California, Idaho, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Washington are examined and assessed. Voluntary guidelines in use in 18 states are summarized.

Forests are major components of the carbon cycle, and disturbances are important influences of forest carbon. Our objective was to contribute to the understanding of forest carbon cycling by quantifying the amount of carbon in trees killed by two disturbance types, fires and bark beetles, in the western UnitedStates in recent decades. We combined existing spatial data sets of forest biomass, burn severity, and beetle-caused tree mortality to estimate the amount of aboveground and belowground carbon in killed trees across the region. We found that during 1984-2010, fires killed trees that contained 5-11 Tg C year-1 and during 1997-2010, beetles killed trees that contained 2-24 Tg C year-1, with more trees killed since 2000 than in earlier periods. Over their periods of record, amounts of carbon in trees killed by fires and by beetle outbreaks were similar, and together these disturbances killed trees representing 9% of the total tree carbon in western forests, a similar amount to harvesting. Fires killed more trees in lower-elevation forest types such as Douglas-fir than higher-elevation forest types, whereas bark beetle outbreaks also killed trees in higher-elevation forest types such as lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce. Over 15% of the carbon in lodgepole pine and spruce/fir forest types was in trees killed by beetle outbreaks; other forest types had 5-10% of the carbon in killed trees. Our results document the importance of these natural disturbances in the carbon budget of the western UnitedStates.

From April 13 to 21, a CPAFFC working group led by Yao Mingyu, director general of the Department of American and Oceanian Affairs of the CPAFFC, visited the UnitedStates, attended the 18th Forum on US-China Relations sponsored by the US-China Peoples Friendship Association (USCPFA) and had talks with the USCPFA, the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation, the Richard Nixon Centre, the Sister Cities International of the U.S., the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Council of State

Severe weather events, such as flooding, drought, forest fires, and dust storms can have a serious impact on human health. Dust storm events are not well predicted in the UnitedStates, however they are expected to become more frequent as global climate warms through the 21st cen...

Land cover changes (e.g., forest to grassland) affect albedo, and changes in albedo can influence radiative forcing (warming, cooling). We empirically tested albedo response to land cover change for 130 locations across the continental UnitedStates using high resolution (30 m-&t...

A resource assessment and biorefinery siting optimization model was developed and implemented to assess potential biofuel supply across the Western UnitedStates from agricultural, forest, urban, and energy crop biomass. Spatial information including feedstock resources, existing and potential refinery locations and a transportation network model is provided to a mixed...

Forest industry experts were consulted on the potential for hardwood tree species to serve as feedstock for bioenergy in the southeastern UnitedStates. Hardwoods are of interest for bioenergy because of desirable physical qualities, genetic research advances, and growth potential. Yet little data is available regarding potential productivity and costs. This paper...

The second glued-laminated structure built in the UnitedStates was constructed at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in 1934 to demonstrate the performance of wooden arch buildings. After decades of use the structure was decommissioned in 2010. Shortly after construction, researchers structurally evaluated the glued-laminated arch structure for uniform loading...

This study, conducted among ranchers on the Santa Fe and Carson National Forests in the Southwestern UnitedStates, examines the role of ranching in maintaining traditional heritage and cultural continuity. The mainly Hispanic ranching families of northern New Mexico first came into the region in 1598 with Spanish colonization. Many of the villages received community...

Land cover changes (e.g., forest to grassland) affect albedo, and changes in albedo can influence radiative forcing (warming, cooling). We empirically tested albedo response to land cover change for 130 locations across the continental UnitedStates using high resolution (30 m-&t...

The incidence of fusiform rust has continued to be one of the major forest disease problems in the Southeastern UnitedStates. In the past, much of the research has concentrated on field studies with provenance selection and genetic breeding of pine families to increase resistance in the host. In the last 10 years, there has been an increased interest in the actual...

At nearly 50,000 acres, Jackson Demonstration StateForest (JDSF) is the largest State-owned forest in California. In 2008, the CALFIRE Director appointed a 13-member Jackson Advisory Group to provide recommendations to the California State Board of Forestry for how to transition JDSF into a “world-class research forest”. After nearly 3 years of deliberations, we have developed a draft Research-Oriented Management Framework (ROMF) that, if adopted, will introduce a new model for adaptive management within the forestry sector. Our approach integrates several core elements. Scientific “Centers of Excellence” (including one focused on Coho recovery and/or watershed processes) would be developed around a Research-Oriented Landscape Allocation, that considers the existing distribution of forest attributes both within JDSF as well as within the broader coastal Redwood Region. The ROMF would establish an Experimental Basis for Management that seeks to leverage harvest activities with explicit experimental designs and monitoring objectives. Like many of the forests that comprise its customer-base, JDSF has a mandate to produce timber revenues. We view this as an opportunity to mimic the management constraint imposed on most private and conservation trust landowners to routinely harvest timber to support operational and capital costs. Timber revenues on JDSF would be used (in part) to support the research and monitoring program. Such a system would support both passive and active modes of forest manipulation and research, and would make JDSF research activities more relevant to stakeholders, potentially increasing opportunities for collaborative, landscape-scale studies that seek to resolve outstanding management issues and uncertainties. The ROMF also would seek to develop and improve practices related to sustainable forestry. Both Late-Seral Development Areas and Old-Forest Structure Zones would be established that will utilize uneven-aged management treatments to

Full Text Available Biomass conversion technologies that produce energy and reduce carbon emissions have become more feasible to develop. This paper analyzes the potential of converting biomass into biomethanol at forest management units experiencing three forest management practices (community-based forest management (CBFM, plantation forest (PF, and natural production forest (NPF. Dry aboveground biomass collected varied considerably: 0.26–2.16 Mg/ha/year (CBFM, 8.08–8.35 Mg/ha/year (NPF, and 36.48–63.55 Mg/ha/year (PF. If 5% of the biomass was shifted to produce biomethanol for electricity production, the NPF and PF could provide continuous power to 138 and 2,762 households, respectively. Dedicating 5% of the biomass was not a viable option from one CBFM unit. However, if all biomasses were converted, the CBFM could provide electricity to 19–27 households. If 100% biomass from two selected PF was dedicated to biomethanol production: (1 52,200–72,600 households could be provided electricity for one year; (2 142–285% of the electricity demand in Jambi province could be satisfied; (3 all gasoline consumed in Jambi, in 2009, would be replaced. The net carbon emissions avoided could vary from 323 to 8,503 Mg when biomethanol was substituted for the natural gas methanol in fuel cells and from 294 to 7,730 Mg when it was used as a gasoline substitute.

In recent years, the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae, has impacted 8.9 million hectares of forests in the western UnitedStates. Historically a common occurrence in western forests, particularly in lodgepole and ponderosa pine, the magnitude and extent of recent outbreaks have exceeded past events since written records are available and have occurred in...

... 45 Public Welfare 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Repayment to the UnitedStates. 212.7 Section 212... UNITEDSTATES CITIZENS RETURNED FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES § 212.7 Repayment to the UnitedStates. (a) An..., any or all of the cost of such assistance to the UnitedStates, except insofar as it is...

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Importation into the UnitedStates... General Definitions § 592.305 Importation into the UnitedStates. The term importation into the UnitedStates means the bringing of goods into the UnitedStates....

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false You leave the UnitedStates. 416.215 Section... Eligible § 416.215 You leave the UnitedStates. You lose your eligibility for SSI benefits for any month during all of which you are outside of the UnitedStates. If you are outside of the UnitedStates for...

Across America, the numbers of homeless children and families are growing as a result of many factors including the recent economic crisis, home foreclosures, and natural disasters. Because of an increase in the number of homeless children throughout the UnitedStates, this population has unmet needs that can be targeted in school settings under…

The author identifies two factors contributing to the increase in the number of illegal migrant workers in the UnitedStates. The first is the complex system of legal immigration, which contributes to massive evasion. The second is the preference by many employers for hiring illegal aliens. The author concludes that the proposed changes in U.S. immigration laws, even though they include employer sanctions, are likely to prove as ineffective as previous measures adopted in several states some 10 years ago that also penalized employers hiring illegal aliens. It is suggested that the economic pressures leading to large-scale labor immigration will prove stronger than political pressures to control such immigration

School reform issues addressing inclusive education were investigated in this nationwide (UnitedStates) study. A total of 714 randomly selected middle school principals and teachers responded to concerns about inclusion, "degree of change needed in" and "importance of" collaborative strategies of teaching, perceived barriers to inclusion, and supportive activities and concepts for inclusive education. There was disagreement among teachers and principals regarding some aspects of inclusive ed...

incidence of drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (DRSP) strains in the UnitedStates has created an emerging public health challenge. CDC...only 1,280 cases of Legionnaires’ disease were reported through NNDSS in 1993, data from recent prospective pneumonia studies suggest that between...surveillance data from 1992 indicated that the prevalence of pneumococcal strains that are highly resistant to penicillin increased 60-fold (from 0.02% to 1.3

stated that, "The wave of the future will be putting together task forces that will be able to respond to crisis management or humanitarian...examine three options for the military’s role in humanitaria operations at home and abroad. Option 1: Virtually Eliminate Anv Military Role This is the...humanitarian aid in almost any crisis .36 The military resists the creation of specially designated units because such specialization reduces the

increase the domestic price of those 41. Coal gasification is a process that converts solid coal—through several energy-intensive steps—into gasoline and...for switching to other fuels or reducing consumption of transportation fuels . In con- trast, electricity can be produced from several sources of...the prices of those fuels in the UnitedStates. Although the global nature of the market for oil makes U.S. consumers vulnerable to price

This view shows the west coast of the UnitedStates and Mexico (32.5N, 118.0W) and gives an indication of the range of view from orbital altitude. The visual range of this particular scene is from Skammon's Lagoon on Baja to the northern tip of California's Central Valley and Sierra Nevada, a range of over 15 degrees of latitude. Coastal fog drapes over southern California and northern Baja California. White Sands, New Mexico is at far right center.

standards. 3. Work with the privatized housing partner to ensure that fire protection inspection and maintenance plans are achieved. Deputy Assistant...Secretary stated that Hunt Military Communities and Patrick AFB civil engineers were working to correct all of the other fire protection system...create a plan for the performance of ongoing inspection and maintenance of all housing units to applicable electrical codes and standards. 3. Work

center between the UnitedStates and the Soviet Union. The method chosen to examine this trend is to review three major politico-military problems...de France, pp. 3-7. ൫ Supra-nationalism must go! De Gaulle’s heir presumptive, Georges Pompidou , has given voice to de Gaulle’s thoughts on... Pompidou said: Certainly we do not believe in integration as a method of approach to European unity, precisely because we believe that there can be no

This book presents OECD assessments and recommendations regarding the UnitedStates' efforts to manage its environment including air, water, nature, and biodiversity; to do this in a sustainable manner; and to do this in co-operation with its global neighbours. In particular, it assesses progress made since 1996, when OECD's previous review on the US was done. 47 figs., 20 tabs.

Full Text Available Field surveys in montane Atlantic forest of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, provided a list of 82 bird species in four sitesvisited. Our protocol relied on standardized use of mist nets and observations. The birds recorded include 40 Atlanticforest endemics, three globally and two nationally Vulnerable species, and two regionally Endangered species. Data onspecies elevation are included and discussed. This work enhances baseline knowledge of these species to assist futurestudies in these poorly understood, but biologically important areas.

In accordance with the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) proposal, as incorporated into NETL/DE-FC26-97FT34199, the objective of this agreement is to streamline the environmental technology permitting process site-to-site, state-to-state, and industry-to-industry to achieve remediation and waste processing faster, better and cheaper. SSEB is working with member Governors, legislators and regulators to build consensus on streamlining the permitting process for new and innovative technologies for addressing the legacy of environmental problems from 50 years of weapons research, development and production. This report reviews mechanisms whereby industry consortiums and the Department of Energy (DOE) have been working with State regulators and other officials in technology deployment decisions within the DOE complex. The historic development of relationships with State regulators is reviewed and the current nature of the relationships examined. The report contains observations from internal DOE reviews as well as recommendations from the General Accounting Office (GAO) and other external organizations. The report discusses reorganization initiatives leading up to a DOE Top-to-Bottom review of the Environmental Management (EM) Program and highlights points of consideration for maintaining effective linkages with State regulators. It notes how the proposed changes will place new demands upon the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and how NETL can leverage its resources by refocusing existing EM efforts specifically to states that have DOE facilities within their borders (host-states). Finally, the report discusses how SSEB's Permitting Leadership in the UnitedStates (PLUS) program can provide the foundation for elements of NETL's technical assistance program that are delivered to regulators and other decision- makers in host-states. As a regional compact commission, SSEB provides important direct linkages to regulators and stakeholders who need

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Prion diseases are a family of rare, progressive, neurodegenerative disorders that affect humans and animals. The most common form of human prion disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD, occurs worldwide. Variant CJD (vCJD, a recently emerged human prion disease, is a zoonotic foodborne disorder that occurs almost exclusively in countries with outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. This study describes the occurrence and epidemiology of CJD and vCJD in the UnitedStates. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Analysis of CJD and vCJD deaths using death certificates of US residents for 1979-2006, and those identified through other surveillance mechanisms during 1996-2008. Since CJD is invariably fatal and illness duration is usually less than one year, the CJD incidence is estimated as the death rate. During 1979 through 2006, an estimated 6,917 deaths with CJD as a cause of death were reported in the UnitedStates, an annual average of approximately 247 deaths (range 172-304 deaths. The average annual age-adjusted incidence for CJD was 0.97 per 1,000,000 persons. Most (61.8% of the CJD deaths occurred among persons >or=65 years of age for an average annual incidence of 4.8 per 1,000,000 persons in this population. Most deaths were among whites (94.6%; the age-adjusted incidence for whites was 2.7 times higher than that for blacks (1.04 and 0.40, respectively. Three patients who died since 2004 were reported with vCJD; epidemiologic evidence indicated that their infection was acquired outside of the UnitedStates. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Surveillance continues to show an annual CJD incidence rate of about 1 case per 1,000,000 persons and marked differences in CJD rates by age and race in the UnitedStates. Ongoing surveillance remains important for monitoring the stability of the CJD incidence rates, and detecting occurrences of vCJD and possibly other novel prion diseases in the UnitedStates.

General aviation in the UnitedStates has been an important part of the economy and American life. General aviation is defined as all flying excluding military and scheduled airline operations, and is utilized in many areas of our society. The majority of aircraft operations and airports in the UnitedStates are categorized as general aviation, and general aviation contributes more than one percent to the UnitedStates gross domestic product each year. Despite the many benefits of general aviation, the lead emissions from aviation gasoline consumption are of great concern. General aviation emits over half the lead emissions in the UnitedStates or over 630 tons in 2005. The other significant negative externality attributed to general aviation usage is aircraft accidents. General aviation accidents have caused over 8000 fatalities over the period 1994-2006. A recent Federal Aviation Administration proposed increase in the aviation gasoline tax from 19.4 to 70.1 cents per gallon has renewed interest in better understanding the implications of such a tax increase as well as the possible optimal rate of taxation. Few studies have examined aviation fuel elasticities and all have failed to study general aviation fuel elasticities. Chapter one fills that gap and examines the elasticity of aviation gasoline consumption in UnitedStates general aviation. Utilizing aggregate time series and dynamic panel data, the price and income elasticities of demand are estimated. The price elasticity of demand for aviation gasoline is estimated to range from -0.093 to -0.185 in the short-run and from -0.132 to -0.303 in the long-run. These results prove to be similar in magnitude to automobile gasoline elasticities and therefore tax policies could more closely mirror those of automobile tax policies. The second chapter examines the costs associated with general aviation accidents. Given the large number of general aviation operations as well as the large number of fatalities and

Full Text Available The study was aimed to build institution model of sustainable forest management, through analysis of action arena, community attributes and forest management rules in Arau Watershed Unit Management Area. To achieve sustainable forest management, recognition and incorporation of local institutions in forest policy formulation is very important because it had great potential for collective action and had characteristics of common pools resources sustainable management needed. To achieve a successful local collective action, the institution must be had: the rules in use suitable with local community norms; the organization has power to give reward and punishment as well as recognized and respected by society; specific management according location; rules of the game was made participatory; there are economic incentives for owners and users; there is an instrument for controlling sustainable use; and conflict resolution through negotiations to reach an concencus agreement. The finding of institutional models analysis show that co-management model between government and local communities, called Nagari Forest Management Model is more suitable, because it gives greater opportunities for indigenous rights recognition to communal forest, until the capacity of villages get better, then the choice of forest management can be shifted into Nagari Community Based Forest Management Model.Keywords: sustainable forest management, institution, collective action, nagari

Background Conversion of forests to other land cover or land use releases the carbon stored in the forests and reduces carbon sequestration potential of the land. The rate of forest conversion could be reduced by establishing protected areas for biological diversity and other conservation goals. The purpose of this study is to quantify the efficiency and potential of forest land protection for mitigating GHG emissions. Results The analysis of related national-level datasets shows that during the period of 1992–2001 net forest losses in protected areas were small as compared to those in unprotected areas: -0.74% and −4.07%, respectively. If forest loss rates in protected and unprotected area had been similar, then forest losses in the protected forestlands would be larger by 870 km2/yr forests, that corresponds to release of 7 Tg C/yr (1 Tg=1012 g). Conversely, and continuing to assume no leakage effects or interactions of prices and harvest levels, about 1,200 km2/yr forests could have remained forest during the period of 1992–2001 if net area loss rate in the forestland outside protected areas was reduced by 20%. Not counting carbon in harvested wood products, this is equivalent to reducing fossil-fuel based carbon emissions by 10 Tg C/yr during this period. The South and West had much higher potentials to mitigate GHG emission from reducing loss rates in unprotected forests than that of North region. Spatially, rates of forest loss were higher across the coastal states in the southeastern US than would be expected from their population change, while interior states in the northern US experienced less forest area loss than would have been expected given their demographic characteristics. Conclusions The estimated carbon benefit from the reduced forest loss based on current protected areas is 7 Tg C/yr, equivalent to the average carbon benefit per year for a previously proposed ten-year $110 million per year tree planting program scenario in the US. If there

Woodlots are forest islands embedded within an urban matrix, and often represent the only natural areas remaining in suburban areas. Woodlots represent critical conservation areas for native plants, and are important habitat for wildlife in urban areas. Invasion by non-indigenous (NIS) plants can alter ecological structure and function, and may be especially severe in remnant forests where NIS propagule pressure is high. Woody shrubs in the Family Berberidaceae have been well documented as invaders of the forest-urban matrix in North America. Mahonia bealei (Berberidaceae) is a clonal shrub native to China, and is a popular ornamental in the Southeastern UnitedStates. Mahoni bealei is listed as "present" on some local and state floras, but almost nothing is known regarding its invasion potential in the UnitedStates. We sampled 15 woodlots in Clemson, South Carolina, to assess the invasion of M. bealei and other woody non-indigenous species (NIS). M. bealei invaded 87% of the woodlots surveyed and species richness of NIS on these woodlots varied from 5 to 14. Stepwise-multiple regression indicated that less canopy cover and older M. bealei predicted greater abundance of M. bealei , and that not all subdivisions were equally invaded (P flora and fauna may be considerable, and it is likely to continue to spread in the Southeastern UnitedStates. M. bealei should be recognized as an aggressive invader in the Southeastern UnitedStates, with the potential for negative impacts on native flora and fauna. ?? Springer 2006.

More than 25 years ago, scientists began to identify unexplained declines in amphibian populations around the world. Much has been learned since then, but amphibian declines have not abated and the interactions among the various threats to amphibians are not clear. Amphibian decline is a problem of local, national, and international scope that can affect ecosystem function, biodiversity, and commerce. This fact sheet provides a snapshot of the state of the amphibians and introduces examples to illustrate the range of issues in the UnitedStates.

Abstract:The advent of modern forces and the changes in socioeconomic patterns of forest dwellers have increased the pressures on the forests.In order to mitigate such pressures and also to protect the forests and wildlife the model of protected aress networks has shifted and enhanced such pressures in the unprotected natural forests due to several reasons.Being a low profile category of protected status and continuous human settlements,the present study highlights the case of dry deciduous forests of Sarguja district of Chhattisgarh state of India.The major objectives of this study were to quantify the status of forests and wildlife and also to determine the extent of anthropogenic disturbances faced by the dry deciduous forests of central India.Transect and silent drive count methods were used for sampling wildlife and quadrat method was used for sampling vegetation.Besides,the local uses of various forest produces were also studied in view of understanding the people dependency on forests.The forest vegetation,in the study area,was predominated by Shorea robusta,which had Madhuca indica,Diospyrus melanoxylon and Buchnania lanzan as the major companion species.The forest had either the high girth class mature tree species or the saplings.The low vegetation cover and density were due to the high anthropogenic pressures mainly in the form of heavy livestock grazing and collection of ethnobotanically important species.The study though reveals that the area is not rich in wildlife and the forest is fragmented,the area still supports some important species,which include many rare and endangered plants and animals.The findings of this study have been discussed in view of the management and conservation of the forest and wildlife in the dry deciduous forests.

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Remittances in the UnitedStates. 22.3 Section...-DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND FOREIGN SERVICE § 22.3 Remittances in the UnitedStates. (a) Type of remittance. Remittances shall be in the form of: (1) Check or bank draft drawn on a bank in the UnitedStates; (2)...

This article analyses the representation of selected countries (EU-27 and the five influential "foreststates") to international forest-related negotiations by national utilitarian vis-a-vis conservation-oriented ministerial bureaucracies. It is hypothesised that due to the bureaucracies' informal g

Peak floodflows from thousands of observation sites within the conterminous UnitedStates were studied to provide a guide for estimating potential maximum floodflows. Data were selected from 883 sites with drainage areas of less than 10,000 square miles (25,900 square kilometers) and were grouped into regional sets. Outstanding floods for each region were plotted on graphs, and envelope curves were computed that offer reasonable limits for estimates of maximum floods. The curves indicate that floods may occur that are two to three times greater than those known for most streams.

The UnitedStates and Canada have been cooperating in all areas of energy exchange for many years. Electrical energy has been chosen to be the focus of this study because substantial means for exchanges offer benefits that have not yet been fully exploited. There may be some bilateral benefits from additional interconnections because of the buffers which they represent against domestic imbalances. After the history of the electricity exchanges between the two countries is reviewed, opportunities and incentives and obstacles and constraints are discussed in the next two chapters. The final chapter examines procedures to resolve obstacles and minimize constraints. (MCW)

stage over the last 6 years.7 The DoD is on the cutting edge of partnering and there have been valuable lessons learned at the tactical and...global stage . “3D are the three pillars that provide the foundation for promoting and protecting U.S. national security interests abroad.”33 DoD, DoS...operations now will mean throwing 18 away hard-fought gains, and expose the UnitedStates to new risks from across the globalising

This review provides an update of previous estimates of first-year probabilities of contraceptive failure for all methods of contraception available in the UnitedStates. Estimates are provided of probabilities of failure during typical use (which includes both incorrect and inconsistent use) and during perfect use (correct and consistent use). The difference between these two probabilities reveals the consequences of imperfect use; it depends both on how unforgiving of imperfect use a method is and on how hard it is to use that method perfectly. These revisions reflect new research on contraceptive failure both during perfect use and during typical use.

Mobile satellite service (MSS) has been under development in the UnitedStates for more than two decades. The service will soon be provided on a commercial basis by a consortium of eight U.S. companies called the American Mobile Satellite Consortium (AMSC). AMSC will build a three-satellite MSS system that will offer superior performance, reliability and cost effectiveness for organizations requiring mobile communications across the U.S. The development and operation of MSS in North America is being coordinated with Telesat Canada and Mexico. AMSC expects NASA to provide launch services in exchange for capacity on the first AMSC satellite for MSAT-X activities and for government demonstrations.

IEA Wind Task 32 seeks to identify and mitigate the barriers to the adoption of lidar for wind energy applications. This work is partly achieved by sharing experience across researchers and practitioners in the UnitedStates and worldwide. This presentation is a short summary of some wind lidar-related activities taking place in the country, and was presented by Andrew Clifton at the Task 32 meeting in December 2016 in his role as the U.S. Department of Energy-nominated country representative to the task.

Geothermal energy is an indigenous environmentally benign heat source with the potential for 5000-10,000 GWe of power generation in the UnitedStates. Approximately 2535 MWe of installed capacity is currently operating in the U.S. with contracted power costs down to 4.6 cents/kWh. This paper summarizes: 1) types of geothermal resources; 2) power conversion systems used for geothermal power generation; 3) environmental aspects; 4) geothermal resource locations, potential, and current power plant development; 5) hurdles, bottlenecks, and risks of geothermal power production; 6) lessons learned; and 7) ongoing and future geothermal research programs.

Inferring principal stress directions from geologic data, focal mechanisms, and in situ stress measurements, we have prepared a map of principal horizontal stress orientations for the conterminous UnitedStates. Stress provinces with linear dimensions which range between 100 and 2000 km were defined on the basis of the directions and relative magnitude of principal stresses. Within a given province, stress orientations appear quite uniform (usually within the estimated range of accuracy of the different methods used to determine stress). Available data on the transition in stress direction between the different stress provinces indicate that these transitions can be abrupt, occurring over characterized by high levels of seismicity and generally high heat flow, the stress pattern is complex, but numerous stress provinces can be well delineated. Despite relative tectonic quiescence in the eastern and central UnitedStates, a major variation in principal stress orientation is apparent between the Atlantic Coast and midcontinent areas. Most of the eastern UnitedStates is marked by predominantly compressional tectonism (combined thrust and strike slip faulting), whereas much of the region west of the southern Great Plains is characterized by predominantly extensional tectonism (combined normal and strike slip faulting). Deformation along the San Andreas fault and in parts of the Sierra Nevada is nearly pure strike slip. Exceptions to this general pattern include areas of compressional tectonics in the western UnitedStates (the Pacific Northwest, the Colorado Plateau interior, and the Big Bend segment of the San Andreas fault) and the normal growth faulting along the Gulf Coastal Plain. Sources of stress are constrained not only by the orientation and relative magnitude of the stresses within a given province but also by the manner of transition of the stress field from one province to another. Much of the modern pattern of stress in the western UnitedStates can be

There are an abundance of large-scale, coarse resolution global water scarcity studies, but the existing literature fails to address regional and state specific scarcity measures. Moreover, while environmental water requirements are an integral factor in the development and implementation of sustainable water management practices, only recently has this notion been introduced to water scarcity research. In this paper, we argue that developing a preliminary measure of water scarcity, at the regional and state levels, will allow for more informed policy development. The goal of this study is to generate a more comprehensive understanding of water scarcity in the Northeast, by gathering fine scale data, applying a consistent methodology to the calculation of a scarcity index, and analyzing the results to see relative trends in spatio-temporal water scarcity. Public supply, irrigation, rural, industrial and thermo-power withdrawals have been compiled from USGS state water use publications from 1950 to 1985. Using the WBMplus water model runoff data, state specific in-stream environmental water requirements were calculated using the accepted hydro-ecological methodology. Water scarcity was then calculated as a ratio of water withdrawals to total available water minus environmental flow requirements for the system. In so doing, this study generates a spatially explicit and temporally varying water scarcity indicator (WSI) for the Northeastern UnitedStates between 1950 and 2000 at the regional and state levels at a five-year time interval. Calculation of a spatial and temporal water scarcity indicator enabled us to identify regions and specific states that were: slightly exploited (WSI 1.0). The minimum environmental water requirements to maintain in-stream aquatic and riparian ecosystems for the Northeastern states ranged between 27.5 to 36.3 percent of the mean annual runoff within Vermont and Maryland, respectively. The regional WSI values ranged between 0.199 in 1950

Full Text Available Forest management plans were firstly prepared and implemented in Turkey between 1963 and 1973. All forests in Turkey have been managed with timber oriented forest management philosophy; however, there have been some developments about inventory and silviculture techniques for approximately 40 years. Last decade, Turkey participated in Convention of Biological Diversity in Rio (1992 and included in both Pan – European and Near East Region Conventions. Nowadays, Turkish forest management philosophy has changed from timber management to ecosystem-based multiple-use forest planning with the principles of “sustainable forest management” criteria and indicators drafted in a few national and international agreements. Thus, Turkish forestry is underway in a restructuring process. This paper presents evolution of the traditional forest management philosophy in Turkey since 1963. This study was carried out in Artvin Planning Unit. Past two decade planning periods (managed under timber management approach was compared with current case study data used for forest multiple use management approach based on ecosystem in terms of distribution of age class, site class and change of volume and increment. In conclusion, former applications and techniques for adaptation of improvement must be analyzed and interpreted properly. Monetary resources and experts as well as legal, technique and scientific framework must be provided.

The importance of dead wood to maintaining forest diversity is now widely recognized. However, the habitat associations and sensitivities of many species associated with dead wood remain unknown, making it difficult to develop conservation plans for managed forests. The purpose of this research, conducted on the upper coastal plain of South Carolina, was to better understand the relationships between dead wood and arthropods in the southeastern UnitedStates. In a comparison of forest types, more beetle species emerged from logs collected in upland pine-dominated stands than in bottomland hardwood forests. This difference was most pronounced for Quercus nigra L., a species of tree uncommon in upland forests. In a comparison of wood postures, more beetle species emerged from logs than from snags, but a number of species appear to be dependent on snags including several canopy specialists. In a study of saproxylic beetle succession, species richness peaked within the first year of death and declined steadily thereafter. However, a number of species appear to be dependent on highly decayed logs, underscoring the importance of protecting wood at all stages of decay. In a study comparing litter-dwelling arthropod abundance at different distances from dead wood, arthropods were more abundant near dead wood than away from it. In another study, grounddwelling arthropods and saproxylic beetles were little affected by large-scale manipulations of dead wood in upland pine-dominated forests, possibly due to the suitability of the forests surrounding the plots.

The breathtaking beauty of the western UnitedStates is apparent in this image from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer on NASA's Terra spacecraft. Data from 16 different swaths acquired between April 2000 and September 2001by MISR's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera were used to create this cloud-free natural-color image mosaic. The image is draped over a 100-meter (328-foot)shaded relief Digital Terrain Elevation Model from the UnitedStates Geological Survey.Among the prominent features are the snow-capped Rocky Mountains traversing Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. In the northern portion of the image, the Columbia Plateau stretches across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Many major rivers originate in this region, including the Missouri to the east of the Continental Divide, the Snake to the west, and the Colorado which wends across Utah and Arizona. The Colorado Plateau and vibrant red-colored rocks of the Painted Desert extend south from Utah into Arizona. In the southwestern portion of the image, California's San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert of California and Nevada give way to the Los Angeles basin and the Pacific Ocean.The Terra spacecraft is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term research and technology program designed to examine Earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, ice and life as a total integrated system.

Full Text Available Moroni et al. (2012 made forty claims which misrepresent my earlier reply to their work (Dean, 2011 and if left unrefuted, might mislead all but the most expert reader—I cover seven of the most important ones here. Firstly, in my earlier paper I had calculated a conservative carbon deficit in Stateforests due to logging of the most-targeted forest types—mature wet-eucalypt—by clearfell, burn and sow to yield even-aged eucalypt regeneration. That deficit was conservative as a range of stand ages were used even though most carbon flux through logging has been from the old-growth subset. It was additionally conservative at the landscape-scale as inclusion of conversion to plantation and logging of other primary-forest types would have yielded a larger carbon deficit, not a smaller one, as implied in Moroni et al. (2012. Secondly, their claim that I applied “carbon saturation” at the landscape-scale is incorrect. Instead I applied carbon carrying capacity at that scale and included different stands ages in its calculation (by definition. Conversely, Moroni et al. (2012 produce the “confusion” which they claim to observe by advocating the use of “carbon saturation” at the landscape-scale, which can have no practical usage.

Forests of the southern UnitedStates are the source of a great diversity of flora, much of which is gathered for non-timber forest products (NTFPs). These products are made from resources that grow under the forest canopy as trees, herbs, shrubs, vines, moss and even lichen. They occur naturally in forests or may be cultivated under the forest canopy or in...

On September 16, 2015, the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the UnitedStates Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the first ever domestic goal to reduce food loss and waste by half by the year 2030.

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This is a line coverage of average annual runoff in the conterminous UnitedStates, 1951-1980. Surface runoff Average runoff Surface waters UnitedStates

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This map layer shows the coal fields of Alaska and the conterminous UnitedStates. Most of the material for the conterminous UnitedStates was collected from James...

Compares the number of legal abortions performed in the UnitedStates and Britain. Reveals that the rate of abortion in the UnitedStates is more than twice that of Britain. Analyzes the reasons for the different rates. (Author)

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — The Satellite View of the Conterminous UnitedStates map layer is a 200- meter-resolution simulated-natural-color image of the UnitedStates. Vegetation is generally...

This paper compares the differences in constitutional spirit between UnitedStates and China, and then brings out the influence of the constitutional spirit in UnitedStates to the constitutional spirit in China.

In this study the geographic domain covered the 48 conterminous states of the UnitedStates. The daily synoptic weather pattern was classified into nine types for the 10-year period January 1, 1969 to December 31, 1978. Weather pattern types were defined relative to the classical polar front model of a mid-latitude cyclonic storm system and its associated air masses. Guidelines for classifying weather patterns on an operational basis were developed. These were applied to 3652 daily surface weather maps to produce a time series of weather pattern type at 120 grid points of a 160 point, 3/sup 0/ latitude by 4/sup 0/ longitude array over the UnitedStates. Statistics on the frequency of occurrence, persistence and alternation of weather patterns were calculated for each grid point. Summary statistics for the entire grid and for six regions were also presented. Frequency of occurrence and persistence were found to depend on the size and speed of movement of the weather pattern. Large, slow moving air masses had higher frequency of occurrence and longer persistence than small (fronts) or rapidly moving (or changing) features (fronts, storm centers). Some types showed distinct regional preferences. The subtropical maritime high occurred mainly in the south central and southeast. An indeterminate weather pattern type accounted for those weather patterns that did not fit the polar front model or were too disorganized to be classified. The intermountain thermal low of the desert southwest was one such feature that dominated both frequency of occurrence and persistence in this region. Alternation from one weather pattern to another followed the polar front model of a moving cyclonic storm. The tendency for anticyclonic weather patterns to become disorganized as they weakened was seen in the high percentage of these patterns that changed to an indeterminate pattern as they aged.

External actor interventions in community forest management (CFM) attempt to support communities with developing forest institutions and/ or improving their livelihoods portfolio. Common pool resource (CPR) scholars argue that forest institutions are required to prevent overharvesting of the forest

... Transfers to the UnitedStates. A firearm may be transferred to the UnitedStates or any department... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Transfers to the UnitedStates. 479.89 Section 479.89 Alcohol, Tobacco Products, and Firearms BUREAU OF ALCOHOL,...

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Importation into the UnitedStates... TAYLOR SANCTIONS REGULATIONS Interpretations § 593.411 Importation into the UnitedStates. With respect to the prohibitions set forth in § 593.205, the term importation into the UnitedStates...

... 32 National Defense 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Appeals by the UnitedStates. 150.21 Section 150... the UnitedStates. (a) Restricted filing. Only a representative of the government designated by the Judge Advocate General of the respective service may file an appeal by the UnitedStates under...

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Importation into the UnitedStates... REGULATIONS General Definitions § 545.304 Importation into the UnitedStates. (a) With respect to goods, software, or technology, the term importation into the UnitedStates means the bringing of any...

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Importation into the UnitedStates... CONTROL REGULATIONS General Definitions § 539.307 Importation into the UnitedStates. The term importation into the UnitedStates means: (a) With respect to goods or technology, the bringing of any goods...

... International Trade Administration UnitedStates Travel and Tourism Advisory Board AGENCY: International Trade... UnitedStates Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce is currently seeking applications for membership on the UnitedStates Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (Board). The purpose of the...

the Vietnam-UnitedStates relationship has taken giant steps forward in virtually every aspect, especially solidified by a Comprehensive Partnership... platform for future relationship between Vietnam and the UnitedStates. Finally, this research suggests a framework for naval cooperation between Vietnam...UnitedStates relationship has taken giant steps forward in virtually every aspect, especially solidified by a Comprehensive Partnership Agreement signed

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false UnitedStates national. 515.334 Section 515.334 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) OFFICE... of the UnitedStates, and which has its principal place of business in the UnitedStates....

... Internal Revenue Service 26 CFR Part 1 RIN 1545-BK10 Modifications to Definition of UnitedStates Property... clearing agency do not constitute UnitedStates property. The text of the temporary regulations also serves... Federal Register establish an exception to the definition of UnitedStates property (within the meaning...

Full Text Available Southeast Asia has historically been a meeting point between East Asia and South Asia before Western colonialism opened the region to the West and to the winds of global modernization. Since Japan’s coercive decolonization during the Second World War, the dominant outside influences have come from the UnitedStates and from the People’s Republic of China. The post-Cold War era began with a withdrawal of both China’s and US power projection from Southeast Asia, facilitating the configuration of a triangular ménage à trios, with ASEAN expanding to include all of Southeast Asia and introducing a number of extended forums intended to socialize the rest of East Asia into the ASEAN way. The “rise of China” occurred within this friendly context, though beginning around 2010 its strategic implications began to appear more problematic with the mounting dispute over the issue of the South China Sea.

Full Text Available School reform issues addressing inclusive education were investigated in this nationwide (UnitedStates study. A total of 714 randomly selected middle school principals and teachers responded to concerns about inclusion, "degree of change needed in" and "importance of" collaborative strategies of teaching, perceived barriers to inclusion, and supportive activities and concepts for inclusive education. There was disagreement among teachers and principals regarding some aspects of inclusive education and collaborative strategies. For example, principals and special education teachers were more positive about inclusive education than regular education teachers. Collaboration as an instructional strategy for "included" students was viewed as a high priority item. Responders who had taken two or more courses in school law rated the identified barriers to inclusive education higher than those with less formal training in the subject.

A detailed gravimetric geoid was computed for the UnitedStates using a combination of satellite-derived spherical harmonic coefficients and 1 by 1 deg mean gravity values from surface gravimetry. Comparisons of this geoid with astrogeodetic geoid data indicate that a precision of plus or minus 2 meters has been obtained. Translations only were used to convert the NAD astrogeodetic geoid heights to geocentric astrogeodetic heights. On the basis of the agreement between the geocentric astrogeodetic geoid heights and the gravimetric geoid heights, no evidence is found for rotation in the North American datum. The value of the zero-order undulation can vary by 10 to 20 meters, depending on which investigator's station positions are used to establish it.

Wholesale trade in electricity plays an important role for the US electric utility industry. Wholesale, or bulk power, transactions allow electric utilities to reduce power costs, increase power supply options, and improve reliability. In 1994, the wholesale trade market totaled 1.9 trillion kilowatthours, about 66% of total sales to ultimate consumers. This publication, Electric Trade in the UnitedStates 1994 (ELECTRA), is the fifth in a series of reports on wholesale power transactions prepared by the Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels, Energy Information Administration (EIA). The electric trade data are published biennially. The first report presented 1986 data, and this report provides information on the electric power industry during 1994.

The Renewable Energy Atlas (Atlas) of the UnitedStates is a compilation of geospatial data focused on renewable energy resources, federal land ownership, and base map reference information. This report explains how to add the Atlas to your computer and install the associated software. The report also includes: A description of each of the components of the Atlas; Lists of the Geographic Information System (GIS) database content and sources; and A brief introduction to the major renewable energy technologies. The Atlas includes the following: A GIS database organized as a set of Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcGIS Personal GeoDatabases, and ESRI ArcReader and ArcGIS project files providing an interactive map visualization and analysis interface.

Demand for medical equipment in the UnitedStates (US) is projected to grow by 8% between 2001 and 2006, to reach 105 billion dollars. In 2001,the market was valued at 71.4 billion dollars, based on an annual growth of 7.5% between 1996 and 2001, according to The Freedonia Group. Product innovation and the growing ageing population is driving the industry, despite health-care cost containment measures. Medical and surgical instruments continue to be the largest sector, which is expected to grow to 30.5 billion dollars in 2006. However, electromedical/electrotherapeutic apparatus will remain the fastest growing sector, with annual gains of 10.8% predicted for this period.

Full Text Available UnitedStates strives to force the Chinese into agreement of increasing the value of their exchange rate to help the USA avoid inflation As China did not come into an agreement with the USA, Tariffs are being put on Chinese products entering USA. However China as began to add tariff on poultry received from the US as well. China was previously not named in the legislation permitting US to add tariff on their goods. But recently a bill was passed giving the commerce department the ability to place important tariffs on all countries to undervalue their currency. The bill passed in legislation had the support of 99 republicans. China has been managing their currency in a manner that makes their goods cheaper to sell and American goods more expensive. The Chinese manipulation of their currency has been quite expensive for the USA, as it has cost them $1.5 billion jobs increasing the percentage of unemployment greatly and significantly. This imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods could result in effecting $300 billion dollars worth of their products. It is obvious that the Americans are attempting to improve and acknowledge their growth and power. As predictions have developed over this conflict, arguing the fact that China will not negotiate with the USA at this point rather fight back and also approach in adding tariffs on USimports. However, this reaction by the Chinese will only worsen the scenario and result in the possible inflation of the US economy or worldwide trade war. This is a very sensitive time for the UnitedStates as their biggest hopes are dependent on the Chinese. But it doesn’t look like they will be too satisfied with the outcome.

Attempts are made to examine concentration and wet deposition of pollutant material at selected stations within the northeastern UnitedStates and to characterize as many events as possible with respect to air mass origin. Further attempts are made to develop a regional pattern for the deposition of dominant ion species. MAP3S (US Multistate Atmospheric Power Production Pollution Study) data for 1977 to 1979 are used to determine concentration and deposition on an event basis from which monthly, seasonal, annual, and cumulative averages are developed. The ARL-ATAD trajectory model is used to characterize individual events as to air mass origin. Case studies are examined to illustrate variability in the chemical composition of precipitation originating from distinctly different air mass trajectories. A difference in concentration of pollution-related ions in precipitation is noted between Midwest/Ohio Valley and Great Lakes/Canadian air mass origins for carefully selected cases. Total deposition of the major ions is examined in an effort to develop a regional pattern for deposition over a period of at least one year. For that purpose, total deposition is normalized to remove the variability in precipitation amounts for inter-station comparison. No marked gradient is noted in the normalized deposition totals within the northeast of the UnitedStates. The Adirondack region exhibited the lowest normalized ion deposition value, while the Illinois station showed the highest of the MAP3S network. The data analysis suggest that the acid rain phenomena covers the entire northeast. The concept of large scale mixing emerges to account for the lack of a significant gradient in the normalized deposition.

Full Text Available UnitedStates strives to force the Chinese into agreement of increasing the value of their exchange rate to help the USA avoid inflation As China did not come into an agreement with the USA, Tariffs are being put on Chinese products entering USA. However China as began to add tariff on poultry received from the US as well. China was previously not named in the legislation permitting US to add tariff on their goods. But recently a bill was passed giving the commerce department the ability to place important tariffs on all countries to undervalue their currency. The bill passed in legislation had the support of 99 republicans. China has been managing their currency in a manner that makes their goods cheaper to sell and American goods more expensive. The Chinese manipulation of their currency has been quite expensive for the USA, as it has cost them $1.5 billion jobs increasing the percentage of unemployment greatly and significantly. This imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods could result in effecting $300 billion dollars worth of their products. It is obvious that the Americans are attempting to improve and acknowledge their growth and power. As predictions have developed over this conflict, arguing the fact that China will not negotiate with the USA at this point rather fight back and also approach in adding tariffs on USimports. However, this reaction by the Chinese will only worsen the scenario and result in the possible inflation of the US economy or worldwide trade war. This is a very sensitive time for the UnitedStates as their biggest hopes are dependent on the Chinese. But it doesn’t look like they will be too satisfied with the outcome.

Attempts are made to examine concentration and wet deposition of pollutant material at selected stations within the northeastern UnitedStates and to characterize as many events as possible with respect to air mass origin. Further attempts are made to develop a regional pattern for the deposition of dominant ion species. MAP3S (US Multistate Atmospheric Power Production Pollution Study) data for 1977 to 1979 are used to determine concentration and deposition on an event basis from which monthly, seasonal, annual, and cumulative averages are developed. The ARL-ATAD trajectory model is used to characterize individual events as to air mass origin. Case studies are examined to illustrate variability in the chemical composition of precipitation originating from distinctly different air mass trajectories. A difference in concentration of pollution-related ions in precipitation is noted between Midwest/Ohio Valley and Great Lakes/Canadian air mass origins for carefully selected cases. Total deposition of the major ions is examined in an effort to develop a regional pattern for deposition over a period of at least one year. For that purpose, total deposition is normalized to remove the variability in precipitation amounts for inter-station comparison. No marked gradient is noted in the normalized deposition totals within the northeast of the UnitedStates. The Adirondack region exhibited the lowest normalized ion deposition value, while the Illinois station showed the highest of the MAP3S network. The data analysis suggest that the acid rain phenomena covers the entire northeast. The concept of large scale mixing emerges to account for the lack of a significant gradient in the normalized deposition.

Considering the long life history, forests should be preferentially evaluated for the monitoring of radionuclides, mainly artificial radioisotopes. However, little is known about nuclides from Uranium and Thorium series, as well as, K-40, in soils from the Sao Paulo Stateforests. Soils are the main reservoir of natural radionuclides for vegetation, thereby deserving attention. Taking into account the advantages of High-Resolution Gamma-ray Spectrometry (HRGS), diverse radionuclides can be quantified simultaneously. In this work natural radionuclides in soils from the Estacao Ecologica de Assis were evaluated by HRGS. Samples of 0-10 cm depth were collected under crown projection of most abundant tree species of long-term plots installed within the Estacao Ecologica de Assis, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. After drying and milling until 0.5 mm particle size, test portions of 30 g were transferred to polypropylene vials, sealed with silicone and kept under controlled conditions until 30 days to achieve secular equilibrium. A group of gamma-ray spectrometers was used to analyze about 27 samples by 80,000 seconds. Activity concentrations of Pb-214, Ac-228 and K-40 and their respective expanded analytical uncertainties at the 95% confidence level were calculated by Genie software from Canberra. Abnormal values were not detected for radionuclides in soils samples, however K-40 activity concentrations changed considerably due to the mineral cycling, in which K and, consequently K-40, is mainly stocked in vegetation in spite of soils. (author)

Full Text Available The relationship and interaction between quantitative (number and dimensions of trees and value indicators in Austrian pine plantations were researched in Forest Management Unit „Subotičke Šume” (Forest Estate „Sombor” - FA „Subotica”. As the measurement of quantitative elements is more simple, their effect on wood value can be used as a rather reliable support in the value estimation of standing trees. The analysis of the research results shows that there is a strong inter-relationship of the study elements, so they can be a good foundation for the estimation of standing timber value in artificial Austrian pine plantations at the given site.

Wildfire is an important part of the terrestrial carbon cycle, moving carbon stored in wood, leaves, litter, and duff into the black carbon and emissions pools. Here, we utilize a national raster of burn probabilities from wildland fire, a tree list for the western UnitedStates, and a national map of fuel loading models to calculate the risk to terrestrial carbon from wildland fires in the western UnitedStates. Annual burn probabilities are estimated by the Large Fire Simulator (FSim), based on current static landscape conditions and at least 10,000 years of statistically plausible weather sequences. For fires of varying intensity, forest carbon retained onsite and carbon emissions are estimated by the Fire and Fuels Extension of the Forest Vegetation Simulator. In grasslands and shrublands, carbon retained and emitted by wildfire is estimated based on current fuel loading and estimated consumption. We summarize expected carbon stocks and expected annual carbon loss at a variety of scales, aggregating values from the 270m pixel to National Forest, ecoregion, state, and regional scales. Our results indicate that following even a high intensity wildland fire in forested areas, the majority of aboveground carbon is retained onsite in the form of tree trunks. Because of the low annual probability of burning, emissions are small relative to carbon stocks. Additional work will be needed to integrate the complex temporal dimension of the carbon cycle, with areas burned in recent years being at first a carbon source and then a carbon sink after less than a decade in most areas.

... International Trade Administration UnitedStates Travel and Tourism Advisory Board: Meeting of the UnitedStates Travel and Tourism Advisory Board AGENCY: International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce... meeting of the UnitedStates Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (Board). The Board will meet to present...

... International Trade Administration UnitedStates Travel and Tourism Advisory Board: Meeting of the UnitedStates Travel and Tourism Advisory Board AGENCY: International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce... meeting of the UnitedStates Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (Board). This will be the last meeting of...

Depending on how disease impacts tree exposure to risk, both the prevalence of disease and disease effects on survival may contribute to patterns of mortality risk across a species' range. Disease may accelerate tree species' declines in response to global change factors, such as drought, biotic interactions, such as competition, or functional traits, such as allometry. To assess the role of disease in mediating mortality risk in quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), we developed hierarchical Bayesian models for both disease prevalence in live aspen stems and the resulting survival rates of healthy and diseased aspen near the species' southern range limit using 5088 individual trees on 281 UnitedStatesForest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis plots in the southwestern UnitedStates.

For some parts of the Nation, large-scale development of groundwater has caused decreases in the amount of groundwater that is present in aquifer storage and that discharges to surface-water bodies. Water supply in some areas, particularly in arid and semiarid regions, is not adequate to meet demand, and severe drought is affecting large parts of the UnitedStates. Future water demand is projected to heighten the current stress on groundwater resources. This combination of factors has led to concerns about the availability of freshwater to meet domestic, agricultural, industrial, mining, and environmental needs. To ensure the water security of the Nation, currently [2016] untapped water sources may need to be developed.Brackish groundwater is an unconventional water source that may offer a partial solution to current and future water demands. In support of the national census of water resources, the U.S. Geological Survey completed the national brackish groundwater assessment to better understand the occurrence and characteristics of brackish groundwater in the UnitedStates as a potential water resource. Analyses completed as part of this assessment relied on previously collected data from multiple sources; no new data were collected. Compiled data included readily available information about groundwater chemistry, horizontal and vertical extents and hydrogeologic characteristics of principal aquifers (regionally extensive aquifers or aquifer systems that have the potential to be used as a source of potable water), and groundwater use. Although these data were obtained from a wide variety of sources, the compiled data are biased toward shallow and fresh groundwater resources; data representing groundwater that is at great depths and is saline were not as readily available.One of the most important contributions of this assessment is the creation of a database containing chemical characteristics and aquifer information for the known areas with brackish groundwater

This report provides an index method that can be used to update recent estimates of timber harvest by state to a common current year and to make 5-year projections. The Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program makes estimates of harvest for each state in differing years. The purpose of this updating method is to bring each state-level estimate up to a...

The species composition of vascular epiphytes and phorophytes (trees and lianas) was studied in ten 0.1-ha forest plots distributed over three landscape units (floodplains, swamps and well-drained uplands) in Colombian Amazonia. The aim was to analyse how host-preferences contributed to the patterns